Budding Emotions
by Vigilance
Summary: When a mad man threatens to destroy China and kidnaps one of the Five, Po arm himself with courage to oppose this dark force. Join Po as he travels through his journey to become a full fledged Dragon Warrior A PoxTigress Story . Part 1 of a Trilogy
1. Chapter 1: The Invitation

So yeah this would be my first Fanfic ever, I decided to make it a KFP one cuz the movie interested me, so please read and rate, and no hate reviews please

**So yeah this would be my first Fanfic ever, I decided to make it a KFP one cuz the movie interested me, so please read and rate, and no hate reviews please. In case you're wondering, yes, it's a PoxTigress story.**

Budding Emotions:

Chapter 1: The Invitation

It was a peaceful night in the Valley of Peace, everything was right again now that Tai Lung was defeated, and was returned to Char Gom prison, thanks to the latest dragon warrior, Po. Now, the story of afterwards that battle will now unfold.

"OwwWw!" Po screamed

"Stay still! This wouldn't have happened if you didn't trip down the stairs again" Mantis said as he struggled to find Po's pressure points.

"Well I dropped stuff down there; I was planning to move it to my room, Yeowwwee! Seriously, I don't need acupuncture, Yahhh!" Po yelled.

"You could've asked us for help you know" Crane said.

"Yeah but you know how long it takes him to get up those stairs" Mantis said while chuckling.

As Po continued screaming out of pain, Tigress woke from her sleep from all the noise, she grunted and stomped her way to Po's room where they were treating him.

"Can't you handle the pain without all that noise!? I can't believe you even defeated Tai Lung" Tigress said

"Well Tai Lung never stuck a bunch of needles in me, OWWW!" Po said as Mantis stuck another needle near his shoulder.

Tigress rolled her eyes as she exited the room, Crane and Mantis caught Po still staring at Tigress as she left the room, it was like the pain didn't affect him anymore. When Tigress left everything returned to Po, especially the pain.

"AHHHHYAAA!" Po screamed as a needle went in his lower back.

Crane and Mantis suddenly looked at each other, as if to say "Could it be?"

**The next morning….**

Shifu made his way to front of everybody's room and rang the gong. Everybody leapt out of their room and said "Good Morning, master!". Master Shifu then realized Po was not outside his room until seconds later he came stumbling out and said "Morning master!".

Shifu sighed and said "Alright, students! Today we will be the same, so head for the training ground with haste."

Shifu looked calmer now, since the dragon warrior had calmed his soul. As everybody headed for the training room, Po called out to Tigress.

"Hey Tigress! Can I talk to you for a second?"

"What is it?" Tigress asked

"I was wondering if you could meet me at the Sacred Peach Tree, I need to tell you something" Po answered

Tigress was confused but said "Alright, I'll be there at sunset"

"Great great, see you there" Po said as he ran off with the others.

Tigress stood there, not knowing what Po wanted to say, but she ignored the subject and followed.

Mantis came out of the corner after both Tigress and Po were gone and snickered.

While everybody was training, Mantis told everybody except Po and Tigress to meet him in the corner.

"What's going on Mantis?" Viper asked

"Yeah, is something wrong?" Crane said

"Did Po break something in the Hall of Heroes again? Monkey said

"No, guys, I think Po likes Tigress" Mantis replied

"That's sort of obvious" Crane said

"Yeah, but this time…"

Then Mantis told them about Po's plan of meeting with Tigress.

"Wow, so do you think…" Viper asked

"One way to find out" Monkey said with a mischievous smirk.

**Sundown…**

It was time for Tigress to meet Po, she started making her way towards the Sacred Peach Tree. While in the midst, the others have hidden inside the top of the peach tree ahead of time. When Tigress arrived, Po was sitting there on the bench, when she approached, he turned his head and said.

"Hey, glad you came, now, about what I wanted to tell you…"

**To Be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2: Under the Tree

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 2: Under the Tree

"Tigress, you know how I work with my dad in the noodle shop right?" Po said

"Yes, I suppose" Tigress answered

"Well, even though I was a noodle shop worker, I was always a fan of you guys, the Furious Five" Po said with a smile

"Yes, I noticed when you first came here" Tigress said as she hid her feeling of resentment when Po first came.

"Well, truthfully, I-I was mostly a fan of you, Tigress" Po said while scratching the back of his neck.

Monkey tried his best to hide his laughter as Viper struggled as well to hide her excitement as they hid in the peach tree.

Tigress was surprised with this, but also confused of where he was going with this, and so she asked "Yes, and what about that?"

"Well, I got to know the others at the palace pretty well, but the one that always makes me shy of talking to was you" Po said

Mantis was now surprised of where this was going, but still he remained quiet and listened

Tigress was surprised yet again, she was feeling strange now, was it nervousness or something else? But she shook her head and said "Is that so?"

Po laughed softly and said "Yeah, but now I'd like to ask you something, something I wanted to ask you, ever since I found my own fighting style".

Po then stood up from the bench and approached Tigress. Tigress was now feeling warm inside, she started to feel her heart beat some what faster than it should be, and she hesitated to move her arm.

As Po got closer to Tigress, Mantis as well as the others in the tree started to feel so much anticipation, it almost gave out their cover.

When Po got too close to her space, she was about to punch him but before she moved her hand Po took it and said "I would like to get to know you better". Those words now made Tigress's legs tremble and she looked at Po's green eyes, she had noticed them now that they were so close.

Viper then started to slip out the tree, and monkey had to grab her, the only problem now was that her head was sticking out of the tree, but Tigress and Po didn't notice, for their eyes were locked on each other.

"I…" Tigress hesitantly said before she broke from Po's hand and ran back to the palace.

When Po was about to turn around, Monkey pulled Viper up into the tree. As Po heard the tree rustle, he went up close to examine it, but he saw nothing as the others had escaped from behind the tree already.

Po then shrugged his shoulder and grabbed a peach, he thought about Tigress's reaction, and thought if maybe he went too far, he then took a bite from the peach as he sat on the bench.

Night…

Tigress sat on top of the Hall of Heroes's roof that night, pondering about Po's words.

"What was that stupid panda thinking? Was he asking me on a date? He knows I would refuse!" She thought.

But then she couldn't help remember that warm feeling she felt when she saw Po's eyes and as he held her hand. She was confused, why was she feeling this way over a stupid fat panda that takes almost everything a joke? But still he kind…

"Kind?" She thought

After realizing she had thought that she shook her head and went to her room.

Everyone had gone to sleep except her, how could she sleep? Over the thought of having to face and train with Po tomorrow, she also couldn't help thinking about Po, but she tried her best to forget it and sleep, what will she do tomorrow?

To Be Continued…

Yes as I said before this is a PoxTigress story, there will be action but only if enough people request it in the reviews, so please R&R. Remember, no haters.


	3. Chapter 3: The Malevolent Message

Budding Emotions

Chapter 3: The Malevolent Message

**Morning…**

Shifu rang the gong as usual to signal his students to wake up. Everybody woke up on time as usual, but Tigress was a few seconds late, the others sensed this wasn't like her at all, but then again they knew what was bothering her.

Po came out and said "Mornin'"

Tigress immediately avoided eye contact with Po as he got out of his room.

"Everyone come to my meditation room, I have something to announce." Shifu said

Shifu then started heading towards to meditation room. Everyone followed but Tigress was stuck behind the group, as she struggled to get through, Po ran up and said "Hey Tigress".

What Tigress had feared had happened, she turned around with her best serious face and said "Yes?"

"A-About yesterday, when I said I wanted to know you better, I meant that we should hang out more, you know? It's not like I was asking you out or something, n-not that I wouldn't want to of course, I-I mean I would but…" Po said

Before he could go on Tigress covered his mouth and said "I get it Po". Po nodded and Tigress released his mouth. They then headed to the meditation room as they were told. Everyone had sat down in the meditation room, and Po had sat next to Tigress, Mantis smirked when this happened.

Shifu was standing in front of all his students, as usual.

"Before I begin, I noticed that yesterday, Tigress, you were gone from your regular training at noon, what was going on?" Shifu said with suspicion.

Tigress hesitated and said "Well master I had to…"

Then Po interrupted and said "It's my fault, really, I had to talk to Tigress".

"Yeah I'd bet" Crane said as he snickered quietly

Shifu raised an eyebrow and said "Is that so? Well then you're both going to do extra training we get back then".

"Get back? What do you mean, master?" Crane asked.

Shifu then took a piece of paper from behind him "Just recently, Zeng delivered a message, and in it reads:

Help! The Ancients' Highlands needs help! Only the Furious Six and the Dragon warrior can help us!

Shifu stopped reading as the letter ended, "So you see, it is our duty to come to their help, and so we will be traveling to the Ancients' Highlands."

Po and the others looked at each other with uncertainty, but Po and Tigress were mostly focused on each other, their thoughts thinking about this journey and the awkwardness it would bring.

"We will start our journey when everyone is ready, and I suggest you be ready soon." Shifu said before he walked towards the door.

When Shifu was outside, he felt pressured, he had noticed the way Po and Tigress had interacted with each other, and he knew the day when his students would fall in love, he could only hope it would not affect their journey.

**Nearing Noon…**

Po had been preparing his bag pack for the trip, he packed a large amount of food, mostly almond cookies and dumplings, and he also brought some powder for making noodles if needed. For the trip, he also changed his clothes, instead of the ragged pants he had worn, now he wore sleek black pants with pockets and the sleeves of the pants were lined with white threads, it had matched his color, he then putted on two metal arm bands, they were a present, courtesy of Shifu after the defeat of Tai Lung, it was given to give Po further protection, and he said it might help on this journey. After packing all his stuff, he was ready.

Everyone was standing near the palace entrance down the stairs, Mantis had packed nothing for he was too small, and Crane brought a few fish chips in a bag hung on to a stick to carry. Viper brought nothing just like Mantis, and Tigress had bought a bag pack like Po. After a few minutes Po finally came down to the entrance and was breathing heavily

"Stairs" Po said as he gasped for air.

Tigress was surprised yet again; she had never seen Po with his new clothes.

"Alright let's go baby!" Po said after he caught his breath.

Shifu appeared from behind Tigress and announced "We will be traveling in partners; each partner will have to watch each others back and secure each other's safety."

Mantis had gone with Monkey, and Crane was partnered with Viper, they did this on purpose of course, Po then had to be partnered with Tigress. Tigress had regretted this but she had no choice "Po, I expect you to be serious about this". Before she could head off, Po grabbed her hand and said "Don't worry, I'll protect you".

Tigress had begun have that strange feeling again from yesterday, again she was enchanted by his jade green eyes, she then started walking the other way and said "Po, we have to go, this is an important…"

While she was talking Po yelled, "Tigress? Tigress!"

Tigress turned around and saw that she was still holding hands with Po, she took back her hand and thought "I couldn't tell…?"

Po smiled lightly and said "Come on partner, let's go"

**To be continued…**

**Yes I realized some of the material in this chapter sounds like the other stories but I did not mean to copy anybody's stories at all, and I'm sure there are more stories like mines that are similar to another's stories, anyways, sorry if the story or the Po and Tigress thing is going slow but that's how I write, I work it up first. So R and R!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Crossing Battle

Budding Emotions

**Budding Emotions**

**Chapter 4: The Crossing Battle**

The Furious Five and Po had arrived at the Mountain Pass Bridge, and were standing before the bridge.

"To make it to the Ancients' Highlands, we must cross through the Mountain Pass Bridge, and then through the mountains, this bridge has existed for many years, watch your step, and keep close with your partner" Shifu said.

Po's eyes widened as he saw the drop from below the bridge, he swallowed and said "Uhh, yeahhh, is there maybe a way to get around the bridge?" Po said while twiddling his fingers.

Shifu looked at Po and remember about his large weight. He thought "If I let Po cross, the dangers of him falling are almost high, and we'll lose our dragon warrior, I can't allow that, but there is no alternative path, unless…"

Shifu then got an idea, but it could be risky, and there's no telling it would work or not, but they had no choice.

"Panda, do you remember how you became the dragon warrior?" Shifu asked

"Uhhh, well I used those fireworks to launch myself inside the-"Po stopped as he now knew what Shifu was planning.

Po begun shaking his head and said "Oh no, no, no NO!" Po said as the others approached him.

They all charged at Po and managed to weigh down his feet. Moments later, Shifu was able to get a favor from a fireworks store owner to borrow his fireworks cart. The Furious Five managed to put Po on a deadlock on the ground, but he was struggling too much, even Tigress and Crane couldn't hold him for long.

"We gotta find some way to hold him!" Viper said while struggling to tie Po's arms with her body.

"I'm open for suggestions!" Crane yelled holding Po's legs

Tigress was holding his head but it was no use, he kept struggling even in a dead lock like this, she thought of every idea and tried to find an alternative, but she had no choice, she'd have to go with her most desperate plan ever.

"Let go of me! Let go! This really isn't good for my tum—"Po said as he was interrupted by something

Tigress had lifted his chin and gave him a kiss on his lips.

"WHAT??" Everyone said in unison

After a few seconds afterwards she stopped and let his head fall. Po was now dazed and said "—my, ha-h-ha".

Tigress wiped her lips and yelled "NOW!"

Everyone then lifted Po onto the cart and Shifu tied him onto the cart with the rope he had bought along in his saddle bag.

Po was still dazed, but they knew they only had moments before he would snap out of it, and so they moved the cart in front of the bridge, and aimed it vertically so that it would head towards the other side of the two bridges connecting the gap. Shifu then lighted one of the match he was given and lit the fuses, he then prayed that this would work.

Po then returned to reality and said "Wait, what the?" as he looked down and saw the cart, but it was too late, the cart was launched.

It had released a flurry of colorful flares as Po shot across the bridge.

"AHHHHHHHOWWWUYYY" Po said as he landed on the other side of the two bridges.

It took Po a while, but he finally stood up and dusted and cleaned off all the charcoal-like dust from his fur, luckily his clothes were not burned to pieces.

Shifu wiped the sweat off his brow as he saw that Po was okay.

But on top of the mountains behind Po stood a leader and his group of warriors.

Their leader smiled and said "So they are the ones?"

"Yes sir, it would seem so" One of his men said

The leader now had a devilish smirk on his face as he raised his clench fist in the air, and then released it, as a sign for his men to scatter and intercept the progress of Shifu and his students.

As Po waved his hands to the others across, they couldn't help but stare at Tigress after her little stunt with Po.

"I did what I had to do, this is an important assignment, and we didn't have time" Tigress said in her defense

"Yeah, I'd bet you **HAD **to do what you did" Monkey said while using his tail as a chair to lift him up.

Tigress glared at him while the others couldn't help but smiling and laughing. Shifu's ears suddenly twitched to the sounds of men approaching

"Prepare for battle" Shifu said as he got into battle position, as well as the others.

Warriors then appeared out of the sky as they landed safely using their spears to as a tool as they stabbed them onto the ground and landed on top of the spears.

These were obviously skilled warriors they were dealing with, Shifu assessed the situation, there were five of these men, they were all wearing leather armor and the handle on their spears were painted black but he could tell it was wooden, Shifu could use that to his advantage.

On the other side of the gap, four warriors appeared behind Po, and Po readied himself.

"Turn back now and forget about your quest, it would be wiser not to deal with us, **The** **Heavenly Harbingers**." said one of the warriors.

"Did you really think threat like that could stop us?" Shifu said with a scoff

The warriors then charged, Tigress headed for the one that seemed slowest, he thrust his spear at her but dodged and lifted the spear, carrying the warrior along with it, she then threw him along with his spear off into the deep chasm under the bridge.

Shifu had grappled a warrior's spear with hands, as Monkey snuck behind the warrior and turned his helmet around, blinding him, and Mantis flipped him over. Viper and Crane were surrounded by three of the remaining warriors, and so Shifu took spear from one of the warriors and threw it at one of the warriors as it pierced leg, and he went down screaming in pain.

Crane saw this as a chance and disarmed one of the warriors with his wings and Viper charging at him biting him, her venom had paralyzed him as he went down. Monkey had taken care of the last one by a flurry of fast punches as he was knocked out.

Meanwhile, Po was faced with four warriors.

"I warn you, I am the Dragon Warrior" Po said while holding a stance.

One of the men charged and tried to stab Po but he deflected the spear with his hand as he learned from his training, and punched the warrior as he stumbled back and fell into the gap.

"Whooaah! That was awesome!" Po said as he made a kung fu noise afterwards

Po realized that punch was stronger that it should've been, then he remembered his metal wristbands that Shifu gave him, it must increase the strength of his strikes.

The warriors were surprised by the strength of the fat panda, and realized they had underestimated him, and they all charged at him.

"Uh oh" Po said as they got closer and he readied himself yet again

He managed to deflect two of the spears and the last one he dodged. He gave an upper cut to one of the men and knocked him out, and he gave a side kick to the second warrior and knocked him back. The third warrior then tried to do a down ward slash, but Po jumped back jumped forward, bouncing the warrior off of Po's belly and sending him off into the gap. The remaining warrior was desperate, he charged at Po, but grabbed the spear before it could strike and pulled it closer and as the warrior's head came close,

"WHAPPAAAA" Po yelled as he gave the warrior a head butt that sended him flying through the bamboo forest, and he wasn't going to stand up any time soon.

The two fights were finished, and on there were three warriors left, one on Shifu's side, and two on Po's side, Shifu interrogated the last one on his side who was cornered near a tree and said "Are you the ones that are terrorizing the Ancients' Highlands?!"

"So what if we are, all for the sake of cleansing this damned world!" The warrior said, trying to sound brave.

Shifu took that as a yes as he struck his pressure points, paralyzing him in his steps.

He did the same with the knocked out men, to assure they would not escape.

**Sunset…**

The Furious Five and Shifu had crossed the bridge safely, only the second bridge was broken, thanks to the battle between the Furious Five and Tai Lung, this brought Tigress shameful memories but she had no time to reminisces as she balanced on the rope of what's left of the bridge and ran across the rope, the others had done the same.

When they reached the other side Po waved and said "Hey guys! You're okay!"

They saw the bodies of the warriors on the ground, and was surpised that Po could handle them all by himself, but mostly Tigress, she thought that with those clothes he wore it looked fitting that he defeated all these warriors. After realizing she thought that, she shook her head and thought "Forget about that panda! He's your second master and your friend, you shouldn't feel like this!". Then Tigress realized Po was focused on her, looking into her crimson red eyes, she couldn't help but smile back at first but then she snapped out of it and gave him a look that said "Don't make anything out it!".

"I suspect you have found my gift useful?" Shifu asked

"Yeah! They rock!" Po said looking at the arm bands.

"But… who were those guys?"

"We only know that they are a group called the Heavenly Harbingers" Crane said

"I suspect we will be facing them more than this one time on our journey, I want everybody to stay close to their partners as always, but keep close attention to your surroundings, where we are going next will be treacherous, but it is the only way to get from the Valley of Peace to the Ancients' Highlands" Shifu said

"Where to next?" Po asked

"The snowy mountains above from here, also where Chor Gom prison is located"

To be continued…

I have read the reviews and I thank you for the praise and tips for improvement, yes, I will be updating more chapters, so please R&**R**


	5. Chapter 5: Predators in the Snow

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 5: Predators in the Snow

**Night…**

The group had finally reached the snowy mountains.

Before entering, Shifu took out what looks like folded pieces of green cloths from his saddle bag.

"Here, wear these, it will help keep you warm." Shifu said

Each one of the group took a cloth, as they unfolded it they could see that it was a long cloak that almost looked like a cape, or according to Po it does.

Po as well as the others started putting their cloaks on.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Po said as he punched his fist and palm together.

"Yes, but remember, enemies could appear at any time, be cautious" Shifu said

The group started heading in, and now they were entering the mountains, but stopped when they were faced with a tall climb up the mountains.

"Let's begin" Shifu said

"Wait, wait, what?" Po said

"Is there a problem, Po?" Shifu asked

"Yeah, I don't really know to climb mountains" Po said

Shifu sighed and said "It's simple Po, just use your arms and legs to and make sure to find ledges to hang on to as you climb."

"Yeah but I can't even climb the stair to the Jade Palace!" Po said

"Fine, Crane, since you can fly, keep an eye on Po and the others as we climb, if anyone falls or is in trouble, make sure to assist them, oh, and take Viper with you, Viper can't really climb and we all know why" Shifu said

Crane nodded as Viper smiled and said "Take good care of me". Crane blushed a little as he grabbed Viper started flying upwards the mountains. The others started climbing, but Po took quite some time to begin.

He stood in front of the climb and gulped. "Alright mountain, prepare to be climbed" Po said as he began struggling his way up.

Tigress and Shifu had made good progress up the mountain, but she couldn't help feeling angry over what happened between her and Po.

"Why can't I let that go!? It didn't even mean anything, it was just a fake kiss, didn't mean anything, he's just your friend, a **IDIOTIC **friend at that! Idiotic, but a sweet friend with pretty eyes—wait, WHAT!?" she thought

"Pretty eyes? When did I-" Tigress said before she accidentally grabbed nothing to hang on to and slipped.

Everyone heard the cracking sound at looked downward as they saw Tigress falling down the climb.

"TIGRESS!" Viper yelled

Crane then noticed and started flying downwards as fast as he could, but he was too high up, there's no way he'll catch her in time.

Tigress tried to use her claws to grapple on to the mountain but it was no use, her claws weren't working, she was falling to fast and her claws weren't strong enough to hang on.

"No… I can't die here, my friends…" Tigress said as she was falling. She simply closed her eyes to lessen the pain until she heard a familiar voice.

"GOTCHA!" Po yelled as he grabbed Tigress's hands and stopped her fall, Shifu sighed in relief when he saw this.

She opened her eyes and saw that Po had saved her. Po then lifted her up onto his back and said "Let's go".

"Po, you don't need to-"Tigress said before she was interrupted by Po

"I'm your partner aren't I? I gotta take care of you" Po said

"Po, just let me—"Tigress said as she was interrupted again

Po laughed lightly "Just stay still princess, and let me do the work."

Tigress wanted to climb on her own, but she had no choice, when she saw her hands her claws were chipped from grinding on the rocks, and her paws were scratched all over, she was in no condition to climb.

As she held on to Po, she felt that warm feeling again, like she didn't want to let go, not just because letting go would mean her death but because she felt…happy.

After several minutes Po and the others had made it almost to the top of the mountain.

Po had sounded brave earlier but the shear weight of carrying someone while climbing was overbearing, but he struggled to climb.

"I can't fall now, I've made it this far, if I let go now she and I will both fall, and I can't let that happen to Tigress, not her!" Po said as he struggled to climb.

He faked a laugh and said "I guess I can climb, I'm getting used to this"

Tigress knew he was faking it, even she herself would have a hard time carrying someone up a mountain, she felt guilty, she didn't want to be a burden, and she never liked that feeling.

"Po, it's alright, I can climb now" Tigress said lightly.

"No, it's fine" Po said. Then he turned his head and said "After all, I promised to protect you"

As Tigress and Po looked into each other's eyes, they both felt something, was it…love?

Po then returned to his climbing as Monkey said "Are you alright Po?"

"Yeah, we can help" Mantis said.

"No, it's alright, I can handle it" Po said as he grunted and climbed ever closer to the top.

Monkey and Mantis then started climbing again.

Po was lying again, for he was now exhausted from climbing, it was easier for monkey since he was made for climbing, and mantis just needs to jump from ledge to ledge.

Eight minutes later, everyone had finally made it to the top, of course Crane, Viper, and Shifu were first but what mattered was everyone was safe.

Tigress got off Po and said "Thank you, Po"

Po breathed heavily and said "No pant problem pant"

Tigress saw how he was very tired and so she searched in the snow for a place to rest, but she saw only a rock, but with closer view she saw it was a cave and lifted her hand from below her cloak and pointed towards the cave and said "Let's take a rest over there, everyone is still tired"

"Agreed, let us go" Shifu said

When they arrived at the cave, Shifu found some twigs and dead tree logs from outside and made a fire, it wasn't much but it provided warmth. Outside the cave it was there was a snow storm now, and made it hard to see.

Po had lied down in the back of the cave, resting from the vigorous climb; Tigress could only feel bad for making him that tired.

Shifu saw Tigress's sad face as she looked at Po and said "Don't worry, he's the dragon warrior, he'll be fine."

Tigress nodded as Shifu announced "Alright, to sleep everyone, we must rest for our journey through the snow"

It didn't take the announcement; for everyone was already either half asleep or dozed off already.

That night Tigress could only think about when she looked into Po's eyes and he looked into her.

"What's happening? This feeling when I'm with Po, is it love?" Tigress said

Then she heard the sounds of something coming as she got off her bed and deflected a kunai knife.

"Show yourself!" Tigress yelled

Everybody woke up when they heard Tigress and saw that she was in battle position.

Po was about to get up when Shifu said "No, Po, you stay here, rest, you're still too tired"

Po wanted to get up but Shifu was right, his legs were to strained out to get up properly, and he just lied down again.

Shifu then headed outside the cave entrance as well as the others, and checked for any enemies.

He could not see anything, but he was sure the enemies were still there.

Then they heard a mysterious voice "Fools! You cannot fight what you cannot see…"

Shifu and the others stuck close to each other, and waited for an attack. Then, a kunai flew towards Shifu, as he grabbed it and threw it towards the direction it came from.

He heard a groan of pain; the kunai must've hit something, or someone

Then he saw a man fell down with a kunai in his chest, it was a man wearing white ninja clothing, now Shifu knew why he couldn't see them in the snow, Camouflage.

"Everyone be careful, they are using camouflage to hide, watch your surroundings, Viper, go back into the cave and watch after Po." Shifu said as he readied himself.

"Yes master!' Viper said before she slithered back into the cave.

More kunai knives and ninja star were now being thrown at the group, Crane deflected most of them with his wings, as Mantis kicked them out of the way.

"Follow the direction of where weapons were thrown from, they must be there" Crane said

Tigress then saw a ninja star come her way, she grabbed it and followed the trail, she caught a glimpse of one of the ninjas, he was running away now, she speeded up and pounced on him. Tigress then used the kunai and stabbed his chest, as he let out a scream.

Crane was busy defending the group as monkey was trying to spot out the ninjas.

Monkey then saw a little white object that didn't match the coloring west of the cave, as monkey used all of his speed to chase the ninja, the ninja tried hard to run but it was too late, Monkey as already pummeling his face to the snowy ground.

Shifu was still countering the kunai throws by sending their weapons back at them.

Meanwhile, a ninja sneaked into the cave, and was headed for the sleeping Po, then, from above, Viper was hanging on to a stalagmite rock, and she dropped on the ninja, going around his neck and choking him.

"You're not the only sneaky one!" Viper said as she used her tail to make the ninja punch himself, until he had fainted from the loss of air.

After a while, Shifu managed to land a hit on one of the ninjas with their own kunai, and then a ninja stood up from behind a rock and said "This isn't over! We shall have our paradise!"

He then ran away to the distance, Tigress and Monkey tried to chase him, but he was long gone and no where to be seen. After that, everyone returned to the cave, and saw the corpse of a ninja lying there.

"He's not dead yet, I didn't choke him all the way" Viper said

"Good, we'll ask him a few questions" Shifu said

After a while, Po woke up and saw a ninja tied up by Viper, and Shifu and Tigress as well as Monkey and Crane standing in front of him.

"I'll never tell you!" the ninja said

"Is that so?" Shifu said

Shifu then took the man's pointer finger and lifted his pinkie

The ninja squealed in fear and said "No no! Not the Wu Xi Finger Hold!"

"I strongly suggest that you give me an answer I would like" Shifu said in a threatening matter

"Okay Okay! We raided the Ancients' Highlands and took control! Our leader is there right now" The ninja said in fear as Shifu's pinkie got ever so closer to being flexed as a threat.

"Good" Shifu said before striking his pressure points, paralyzing him.

"Aww man! I missed out?" Po said as he scratched his head.

"Oh don't worry Po, I have something that will lighten up your mood" Shifu said with an evil laugh afterwards

Crane brought the ninja out in front of the mountain climb, and Shifu threw him up in the air, as Po then jumped and kicked the ninja off the mountain, the last thing they heard was the echoing screams of the ninja.

"That was AWESOME!" Po said with excitement.

"Yes well, we still have to get to our destination" Shifu said as he closed his cloak, hiding his hands.

"Let's go then!" Po said as he did the same with his cloak.

Tigress patted Po's shoulder and said "Po, thanks again for carrying me"

Po smiled and said "Don't sweat it, you're my…partner after all"

Po then took Tigress's hands and held it for some time, looking in her eyes, and then headed off.

Tigress smiled and followed Po.

**To be continued…**

**R&R !**


	6. Chapter 6: Maiden

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 6: "Maiden"

Po kept close to Tigress as they both traveled through the deep snow, they had been traveling for some time now, as Shifu was leading the way.

"Hey! I know you're all wise and all but it seems like you're just taking us in circles!" Po said as he struggled ahead while shielding his eyes from the snow.

Shifu panted cold air with each step as he said "Master Oogway used to take me on journeys through many places during my training, and the Ancients' Highlands were one of them, and I remember walking through this mountain, believe me"

Mantis was on Monkey's shoulder, as he held on from falling into the deep snow. Viper was carried by Crane, as he covered her with one of his wing while moving forward, it would slow him down, but he was glad to be with her, and Viper felt the same for Crane.

Within hours of walking through deep snow, they came across Chor Gom prison, the prison that held Tai Lung, but Shifu knew he would not escape for a while after being shamefully beaten by Po, and after braving the cold and snow, they reached a cut off path; it was the other side of the mountain.

As they approached the cliff they could finally see the sun again and its warmth. As Po approached, he felt the frozen snot spikes from his nose starting to melt, as they kneeled to the ground and said "pantpant Wow, and I thought the left over soup bowls were cold".

Tigress held out her hand and helped Po up.

"Thanks" Po said as he smiled gently towards her.

Tigress nodded as she smiled back, this amazed Po, he had never seen Tigress smile, and she looked beautiful.

Po stood there staring at Tigress until he felt hurtful sting on his neck and said "Ouch!!"

"Wake up lover boy, Shifu's got something to say." Mantis said as he jumped off Po's shoulder.

As Po turned around, he saw Shifu glare at him the same way he does when he's late for training.

"Now that that's over, I would like to say that we have made it this far, and the Highlands are just up ahead, I am proud of you as my students for making it this far." Shifu said before he bowed down.

Everyone bowed down as well as a sign of respect.

"But we cannot rest yet, as we heard earlier, we are headed towards the Ancient's Highlands, which is now a base for the group called the Heavenly Harbingers, and who knows what their leader will try to pull." Shifu said with a stern face

The group then headed downwards the mountain on a stair case that was built on a ledge downwards from this side of the mountain.

"Oh come on! They couldn't make them on the other side too?!" Po complained

But then again he knew that he would have trouble climbing either path.

On the bottom, they could see a large wall of bamboo ahead of them, it was a bamboo forest.

**Morning…**

Po and the others headed inside, they still had their cloaks on, and they decided they might as well keep them on, who knows what might happen?

"Keep close and don't get lost." Shifu said as he leaded.

Crane finally let Viper to go by herself and said "Thanks Crane, you're sweet" as she slithered towards Shifu. Crane smiled happily and followed the group.

Po was excited but at the same time worried, when they reach the Highlands, how will he stand up against the leader of the Heavenly Harbingers?

"If he had men like that, the guy can't be much of a push over or at ALL" he thought.

Tigress saw Po's worried face and said "Thinking of the battle at the Highlands?"

Po was surprised and said "Yeah, I don't know if I'll be much help to you guys, I'll probably be just a burden".

Tigress sighed and said "Po, I saw the bodies of the warriors from the crossing, and it certainly wasn't luck that did that to them."

Po smiled and said "Thanks".

Tigress started walking near Po and said "And besides…"

Tigress then held Po's hand and whispered in his little ear "You promised to protect me remember?"

Then as Po was dazed by the sensation, Tigress then shoved Po as he hit his head a rock nearby.

"OWW! What was that for?" Po asked

"For the kiss earlier" Tigress replied sarcastically as she laughed and headed forward smirking.

"But it was you who-- Aww I'm gonna get you for this!" Po said as he rubbed he head.

Then Shifu started to hear a whooshing sound, as he flip jumped backwards to dodge the spear that had almost hit him.

Then they saw a man standing on top of a bamboo that said "Good, so you are the genuine Shifu"

The man then jumped down and appeared before the group, he was a winged eagle wearing Gray steel armor and white puffy pants, and his wings were partially coated with armor was well.

"My name is Jing Fei, and I am the leader of the Heavenly Harbingers." The man said almost too casually.

Shifu readied himself and asked "Why did you attack the Ancients' Highlands!?"

"Simple, what I want is to rid this world of all it's corruptions, rage, envy, jealousy, yes, all of that will soon be gone once my plan comes to fruition, for you see Shifu, the only way to get rid of these cursed corruptions is to destroy the carriers of that corruptions, and I think you understand what I mean" Jing said as he swung his scimitar blade pointed-spear and pointed it at the sky.

"And how do you intend to do that!? The Dragon Scroll will not help you!" Shifu said

"Oh no, I won't be using a **BLANK **scroll to my plan" Jing said as he laughed lightly

"How did you--" Shifu asked in confusion

"Please, rumors has spread about your Dragon's warrior's feat against Tai Lung, did you think that it wouldn't get to me?" Jing said

"No, for your see the item I will be using is in your possensions." Jing said with now a serious face

The group looked confused and didn't know what he was talking about.

"Oh, so you haven't told them, such a shame, you try so hard to hide your past, and yet it couldn't last forever, **Maiden Tigress of the Lunar Claw Family**! Jing yelled

Then as they looked behind, Tigress was looking distressed, and worried now that her friends and master knew her past.

"How do you know about my identity?" Tigress yelled as she clenched her fists

"Simple, the Lunar Claw family was once a prestigious one was it not? High nobility and strong warriors at that…until a little accident of course." Jing said

"What's he talking about Tigress?" Po asked

Jing chuckled and said "Oh milady, just how much have you hidden from these people, have you also not told them about your little power as the maiden?" Jing said

"Shut up!!" Tigress screamed

"But then of course I understand, you wouldn't want to tell anybody that you had the **Godly Essence.**

"I said SHUT UP!!" Tigress said as she charged at him, her rage took over, she wasn't thinking rationally.

Jing simply flew up and used his spear handle to swing Tigress and throw her towards a wall of hard bamboo which made her faint.

Jing then turned his attention towards the group and smirked as he said "Well then, shall we have a go at it?"

Shifu charged first as he quickly made a flurry of fast strikes at Jing coutered by using his spear to guard and also his body, then Jing made a downward slash at Shifu.

Shifu quickly grappled the spear handle to hold it back but Jing's strength was enough to give even Shifu a hard time.

"Impressive," Jing said as he pushed the blade down harder to try and break Shifu's guard, but then Jing took advantage of the situation and swung the spear with Shifu still hanging on to it and threw him into the bamboo groves, as Shifu flew 115 ft. deep through the bamboo and dropped. "But not Excellent!" Jing said with a smile

Shifu tried to get up but Jing flew toward and slashed at Shifu, luckily, it only cut Shifu's left shoulder when Shifu rolled out of the way.

Monkey, Po, Crane, and Viper then charged at Jing.

Seeing this, Jing stood his ground and slash horizontally with his spear, Mantis tried to block it but even his wings weren't strong enough to deflect it, it had left a cut in Crane's wings before sending him flying into a bamboo.

As Crane fainted Viper yelled "Crane, No!"

Then, Viper charged at Jing, as she twisted around his neck and used her tail to tie up his spear holding hand, Monkey charged and grabbed his spear, while at the same time Po jumped and bounced Jing off into the bamboo mile, Viper then let go of him, and Jing was grinding through the bamboo now and stopped after a minute..

Viper and Monkey as well as Polooked at each other with looks of excitement for their victory, but then a Jing flew downward from atop of them and pummeled Monkey and Snake into the ground, knocking them out, Po then struck from behind, which managed to land a hit on Jing, but then he slash at Po with his spear, Po had guarded it using his metal arm bands, as it grinded on the bands, creating static like sparks, Jing then smiled and gave Po a round house kick below on Po's legs, then as he was falling Jing slash at him with his spear, sending Po towards a rock, it had left a long cut on Po's chest. Jing then took his spear and said "Nice effort, but you won't beat me that way"

Tigress then regained consciousness and followed the trail of broken bamboo and found her friends and master knocked out, and she saw Po with a injury, she tried to charge at Jing but then Jing held his spear to Po's neck and said "Nah ah ah! You wouldn't want your little Dragon Warrior to be killed this easily would you?"

Tigress gritted her teeth as she saw how helpless she was in this situation.

"Now, if you come with my without a fuss, I won't hurt your friends, if you **DON'T **however, then… I think you know." Jing said casually

Tigress saw how everyone was so hurt and couldn't fight back, she thought of how to deal with this but she had no choice.

"Fine, I'll go, but you better stick to your promise" Tigress said with a most angry glare.

"Good girl, let us go then" Jing said as he headed back to the forest path

Po saw what Tigress did and struggled to stop her, but the pain was too much.

"Ti—gress, no, do-n't…" Po said lightly as his wounds caused severe pain.

Tigress turned around with tears on her face, she looked into Po's eyes and said "I'm sorry Po, I'm doing this for you and the others, Po, I—I lo-"Tigress said before she was interrupted when Jing pulled her away.

"Come one, we have no time to waste" Jing said as he pulled her

Po then struggled to move towards her.

"Tigress—no—please-do-n" Po said before his whole body fell flat to the ground.

He saw that the tears were still rolling down Tigress's face, and they were on his as well.

He was beginning to black out, and by now Tigress was gone from his sight.

"N--o" Po said weakly

Po then saw a blurry image of someone in a brown robe as he walked towards Po

"Are you the Dragon Warrior?" the man asked

Po then blacked out before he could answer.

A wolf woman in a purple dress came out and asked "Is it them?"

"It might be, but no time, we have to help them now!" the man in brown robe said.

**To be continued…**

**Yeah sorry if I scared you a bit with the near death thing, didn't mean to, just adding suspense to the PoxTigress and to the journey, anyways, please R&R!**


	7. Chapter 7: Nightmares

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 7: "Nightmares"

**Noon…**

"_Tigress, NO!" Po said as he knelt on the ground, helpless to save Tigress_

"_I'm sorry, Po" Tigress said as she disappeared before Po's eyes_

Po then woke up in a frantic manner.

"It was a nightmare…" Po thought before he realized he didn't know where he was.

Po was lying on a wooden bed, and as he looked down he saw that his chest was bandaged and so was his forehead. His metal bands were on a wooden table near the bed, and so was his cloak.

When Po tried to get up he started to feel an instant painful shock in his body, as he then sat back down immediately, clutching his chest.

Then a man in a brown robe walked in, with a surprised look.

"Oh you're awake! Please, you mustn't get up." The goose man said as he helped Po lie down back on the bed.

Po had a headache and said "Who…are you?"

"Oh yes of course, how rude of me, my name is Lao Fung, and I am part of the resistance group against Jing Fei and his army." Lao said

As Po heard that name, he remembered something important, as he started getting images in his head

"_I'm sorry Po, I'm doing this for you and the others, Po, I—I lo—"Tigress said_

"_Come on, we have no time to waste" Jing said as he pulled her away._

Po then had a serious face as he struggled to get up again, but the pain only came back as he got up.

"I, grunt gotta save…Tigress grunt" Po said as he walked baby steps towards the door, desperate to save Tigress.

Lao's eyes widened, but he stood in front of the door and said "No please! You must rest! Your injury will get worse if you don't allow it to heal!"

Po then remembered how Jing had slash Po away in the bamboo forest, leaving a cut on his chest, but that didn't stop Po.

"Doesn't—matter—have to" Po said before he let out a short yell as he knelt to the ground, clutching his bandaged injury.

Lao's eyes were now worried as he tried to help Po.

A wolf woman in a purple dress then entered with a tray of food in her hands, when she saw Lao trying to help Po up she was shocked and said "Oh no! Did he try to get up?"

Lao nodded as the woman then placed the tray of food on the wooden table alongside Po's stuff and helped Po.

They then helped Po back to his bed, as the woman examined his injury to check for any more bleeding, and there were none, she sighed in relief and said "Don't worry, I'm Lianne, and I'm going to take care of you."

Po was still getting headaches, and then he looked at the woman as she said "Are you the Dragon Warrior?"

Po only nodded for talking would only hurt him more.

Lianne then smiled and said "Then we are saved!"

"Hold on, he and the others cannot do anything until they are healed!" Lao said

Po then lifted his head and said "Others?"

Lao nodded and said "Yes, your companions and master are fine; we are taking care of them as well."

Po then remembered how badly the others were beaten as well as him, he was relieved that the others were fine as well.

Lianne stood up and said "Please rest for a while, we will come when it is time for dinner, we have much to talk about, so please get some rest."

Lianne and Lao then left the room, leaving Po to just lie there.

Po hated being like this, helpless and not being able to do anything, he wanted to help Tigress and save her, but he couldn't, he couldn't even help the others fight against Jing.

"I'm so useless…" Po thought

For the moment, Po dared not to sleep again for the fear of having another horrible nightmare about Tigress.

He remembered how he saw tears on her face as she was pulled away by Jing, and how it had put tears to his eyes, he loved Tigress, and seeing that broke his heart.

Po had fallen asleep against his will, he was simply too tired, also from his struggles to walk.

He had another dream, and this time he was standing in front of a wooden fortress, with two towers by the gate, and he saw Jing there, wielding his spear as Tigress stood there by him.

_Po then yelled "Tigress! It's me Po!"_

_But Tigress just stood there, motionless, as if she could not hear him._

_Po was confused and yelled again "Tigress! What are you doing? Come back!"_

_But yet again Tigress could not hear him and just stood there, her eyes were still, it seemed as though she was a zombie._

_Jing then laughed and said "It's too late Dragon Warrior! Soon the world shall have its salvation!"_

_Jing then stabbed his spear to the ground, which made a giant crack in the earth to spread to Po, causing Po to fall into chasm._

_Po used his hands to hang on to the ledge before falling; he could still see Tigress there, as Jing went back into the fortress with her. Po was slipping now, as Tigress went in Po screamed out "TIGRESS!!" Then his hands dropped and Po fell into the darkness._

Po then woke up panting heavily, putting his paw over his bandaged forehead at the same time.

"I can't wait any longer! I have to save her!" Po thought

Po then got out of his bed, he was feeling better now; he could walk properly as he headed for the door. When he opened the wooden door, he walked outside and saw that he was in a cave of some kind, with spiky stalagmites on the bottom and top of this place, and there were some people in this place, they were commuting to each other as their kids seemed to play tag around the cave, when Po took a step forward, the civilians saw him and only stared at him with curiosity.

"Uhhhh, what's up?" Po said while grazing his arm

Then he saw Lao coming out of another room west of Po and ran up to Po.

"Oh! I see you can walk again, please forgive me, I had to tend to Shifu and your companions" Lao said

"They're ok right?" Po asked

"Yes, they just need rest." Lao replied

Po then felt a sigh of relief in him.

Lao looked at the bandage and saw that the blood that had bled through has dried.

"But your wounds seems to be healing faster than I expected" Lao said with a curious face

Po looked at his chest and saw that it had healed pretty fast, but it wasn't completely healed.

Po then looked at Lao and said "Can I go see them?"

"Why of course! They're in the room right over there, I'm sorry I couldn't put you in the same room as them, it's just we didn't have enough room because you were too—"Lao said as he pointed to the door near him.

"Fat?" Po said with lowered brow

"Oh no! I meant Big of course" Lao said in his defense

"Sure you were" Po said as he headed for the room Shifu and the others were in.

Po opened the door and went inside, he saw Crane lying on the bed, with his wings bandaged.

Monkey wasn't in good state either; there were bandages on his arms and cotton patches on his face.

Viper's tail wasn't looking good, it was bandaged but Po could tell it was badly damaged.

Mantis was lying on another bed, , his spiky arms were bandaged and so were his little legs, Po didn't see him during the fight, but Po was sure he must've been stepped on by Jing at some point.

And Shifu was lying on a bed placed on the very corner.

"Po, you're ok!" Crane said as he got up on his bed.

"Yeah…how's Shifu?" Po asked with a grim look

"He's resting right now, but they said he shouldn't try fighting or straining himself" Crane said with a sad expression.

Po then turned to Shifu's bed and headed towards it, with worried eyes.

Po stood in front of Shifu's bed and said "Hey, Master Shifu, you alright?"

Shifu opened his eyes slowly and saw Po and answered "What matters is that **you** are alright, Po"

Po looked at down and asked "So what now?"

"We will rest for now" Shifu answered as he blinked his eyes.

Po then looked at Shifu with a serious face and asked "But what about Tigress? She was captured! We have to save her!"

"We cannot do anything in this condition, Po!" Shifu replied

"So what? We're just gonna let this Jing guy get what he wants?" Po said with a furious face

"First of all, Po, Tigress was not captured; she went with Jing to save us from harm, wouldn't you have done the same?!" Shifu said as he rised slowly and used his pillow as a chair

Po then looked away, thinking about Tigress, and how Shifu was right, she did do it, for everybody…

Po shook his head and focused on Shifu "Even so, we can't just let Jing get away with this; we don't even know what's going to happen to Tigress! She's our friend and your student, we gotta fight!"

Shifu then stood on his bed and yelled "Think rationally Po! Look around you, do you think we are in **ANY** condition to fight?!"

Monkey lifted his head and said "No, master, Po is right, we must save Tigress cough"

Mantis then scrambled to stand up from his blanket and said "Yeah, we can handle it grunt"

Viper lifted her head slightly and said "Master-- she is one of us, we cannot just do nothing"

"Once again! We can only rest now and think over what to do, we are not giving Tigress up, but you all need to rest for the next plan of action!" Shifu said as he lied back down on his bed.

Po then stormed out of the room with rage, he returned the room he was originally in and sat on his bed. Shifu could only feel saddened for his loss of a student, it only made it worse when Shifu saw the conditions his students were in, Shifu could only close his eyes, and think.

Po putted his paws over his face to think, but he could only think about Tigress.

"Tigress…Hang in there!" Po thought as he moved his hands onto the bed.

_**Meanwhile…**_

Tigress was held in a room made of bamboo straws with a sliding door in front of her, she sat on the ground, thinking about the others and how she left them.

'I hope they're alright" She thought

Then someone had opened the sliding door, and the person who walked in between the two winged soldiers guarding the door outside was Jing. Tigress then stood up with her fists clenched

"Ah, I expect you're comfortable" Jing said in a happy tone

Tigress said nothing, only glared at him as she stood up.

"If you aren't I can bring you anything you'd like" Jing said

Tigress said nothing again, which made Jing chuckle and said "Very well, I only came here to inform you that the ceremony of which I will extract the Godly Essence from you will begin in two more days."

Tigress's eyes widened as she heard him.

Jing walked out of the room with an evil smiled and as he slid the doors closed he said "And don't even think of escaping, because my guards will not be as merciful as I am now."

The doors were closed now, and Tigress sat on the floor again, she could only sit and think about Po, and how she couldn't say what she wanted to before she was taken away.

"I love him…" Tigress thought

After realizing that, Tigress stood up with serious eyes and started getting into battle stance, and begun doing practice routines with her moves, she was practicing for the time she would escape.

**To be continued…**

**So yeah the story is getting intense, I know, and the PoxTigress love is still going on, don't worry, so R&R!**


	8. Chapter 8: Further Training

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 8: Further Training

_**Before I start, just wanna say, sorry if the previous chapter is a little too depressing or has no action but please bear with me, because there will be action, and thanks for the reviews! R&R!**_

**Morning…**

Po and the others sat down at the dinner table that night, as well as Lao and Lianne. Po had just stared at his rice bowl that night, slowly eating his food, of course this barely happens.

Everyone was quiet during that dinner; they all didn't know what to say.

Lianne saw this and nudged Loa and said "So, Lao, why don't you tell them about us?"

Lao was flustered as he let down his bowl and said "Oh why, yes, we are the inhabitants of the Ancients' Highlands, and so are the others in this place."

Po dropped his chop sticks and said "So wait, you're like, the ones who sent us the letter?"

"Yes, one of us wrote it in secret as the Highlands were attacked by Jing Fei's army." Lianne said as she laid down her chopsticks

"Army?" Monkey asked

"Yes, it seems that Jing has that many followers in his plan to bring this so-called salvation to this world." Lianne said as she rolled her eyes

"Jing captured Tigress and said something about some essence thingy, what did he mean?" Po asked

"You don't mean… the Godly Essence?" Lianne asked

Po then snapped his fingers and said "Yeah that's it!"

"Then this can't be good, you said she captured someone from your group named Tigress, correct?" Lao asked

Po nodded as Lao then shook his head with a look of displeasure.

"Yeah, Jing said she was a maiden of the what-cha-macall-it family" Po said trying hard to remember

Lao and Lianne stared at each other for a while after hearing that, then Lao said "Oh dear, that's not good…now that they've got the Lunar Claw Maiden with them"

"What's this about a maiden, and this Lunar Claw family?" Shifu asked, for even he didn't know.

Lao let out a big sigh and said "All right, I shall tell you the past of the Lunar Claw family."

The others intently listened as Lao told them about Tigress's past.

_About 8 or 7 years back, there once was a very prestigious family called, the Lunar Claw family. The family consisted of tiger men and women with high nobility, and to top it off, most of them were skilled in Kung-fu._

_So you see, the Lunar Claw family was never beaten in both nobility and for skills in kung-fu, and that's why it didn't take long before more and more traitors and other families who want to get rid of the family's head leader._

_But despite their efforts, any traitorous attempts or uprisings were countered, and there were even close calls too._

_The leader of the Lunar Claw family was a kind and strong man as well, his name, was __**Tigerius Lunar Claw**__. He offered mercy upon those who committed crimes against his family, even if most of them never learned their lesson, but when it comes to endangering his daughter, he would resort to using his superior kung-fu skills, and he was very skilled in the arts of the Tiger style._

_You see he treasured his family more than anything; he loved them very much, but also because of something else. There was a tradition in the Lunar Claw family, and that one and only one girl in the Lunar Claw family, will be chosen as the Lunar Claw Maiden, and when that girl has passed away, another will take her place. But they didn't just pick random girls, no, the Lunar Claw women had a gift. One women in the family would inherit something called… The Godly Essence._

_Yes, this is the power that one woman in the family holds, that power stays dormant in that woman's body, until it is released. They can tell that a woman holds the essence whenshe is the most skilled fighter, or if they had different features than the rest of the family. And they say only the ones that get too deep in black magic can harness the essence's power, and that power has the power to give the person who summons it godly powers, that's right, enough to wipe everything off this planet._

_The current maiden right was Tigerius's daughter, can you guess who it is? Yes, it was Tigress, she was Tigerius's daughter, and current maiden, knowing this, Tigerius protected his daughter as well as his wife everyday, knowing that people will be coming after them and his family._

_Tigerius's family was safe…until Jing Fei came. Rumors say that he's a man who has learned the darkest of black magi and the skills of martial arts and to wield a spear, in simpler terms, he was more than just a worthy opponent. He'd gathered many warriors to follow his ideals of a more "perfect world" and soon enough, he built an army._

_After that, he mobilized his army to strike the Lunar Claw family. The Lunar Claw warriors did well to resist, but there were simply too much men, and Jing Fei sure didn't show mercy to those soldiers. It wasn't long before Jing Fei dueled with Tigerius._

_Jing was fierce with his spear, as well as Tigerius with his kung-fu._

_With every slash, Tigerius used his palms to guide the blade somewhere else, and with every strike, Jing countered with his spear. It was an epic battle, but it had to end, as Tigerius had finally disarmed Jing, sending his spear flying else where and stab a wall. Tigerius had given Jing to give up and repent for what's he's done, but instead Jing pulled a dirty trick, he used his dark magic to make his spear fly back and stab Tigerius from the back._

_Jing had won an unfair victory, but Tigerius had pulled one last trick before he fought Jing, he had sent his wife and daughter away, to hide from the battle, the daughter was rumored to have hidden nearby the highlands, but as for her mother, I do not know. This enraged Jing, now the maiden was free from his grasp, and so he dedicated his very existence now to find the maiden again. Since that day, he has been training, getting stronger and evil as the years passed._

Everyone only stared as Lao was finishing up the tale.

"Now, he has what he wanted, and I fear that one of our spies inside the troops of Jing's army had found out that Jing will summon the Godly Essence in the next two days." Lao said closed his eyes with a face of sadness.

Crane looked at Shifu's surprised expression and asked "Master, did you know about this?"

Shifu then looked at everyone and said "I did not know, she came to the palace steps with her mother, but they said nothing about their past, or who they were, just Tigress's name, and when I saw her talent, I took Tigress in."

Po then pounded the table with his hands and said "We've got no choice then, we have to save her now!"

Po looked at Shifu to see what his decision is, and after Shifu took a few seconds to think, he finally stood and said "For the time we have left, we will train for the fight against Jing and his army, and when the time comes, we will strike."

Po smiled and Crane stood and also pounded his left wing on top of Po's hand. Monkey did the same, and so did Mantis, and Viper placed her tail on top of all the hands. They were now waiting for Shifu, as he smirked and pounded his palm on his students' hands. But then the table fell under the sheer pressure of all the hands pounding on it, Lao and Lianne saw the plates and food fell to the ground and the group said "Sorry" in unison.

Lianne smiled and said "It's okay, you go train, we can clean up"

Everyone nodded as they headed outside the room, and headed for the open area.

As the door closed Lao couldn't help to worry and said "Can…can they really do this?"

Lianne looked at Lao and said "They got this far didn't they? I trust in them, they may be our last beacon of hope.

Lao then let out a sigh and said "Maybe so" Then they started cleaning up the mess.

Noon…

Crane started training with the rebellion warriors as they helped throw spears at Crane to help him train to deflect and counter them.

Mantis started training on the training dummy along with Po and Viper, as they struck the dummy and countered each other's attacks as well.

Po was making good progress, he had been fighting harder than usual, he didn't feel any weight pulling him down.

"I've got something to fight for now…" Po thought as he smashed the dummy chest and arms.

Mantis then lifted the dummy from the ground as he flipped him over and whacking it constantly like a toy. Viper had charged at Po but he ducked and tried to strike her head, but Viper dodged and tried to bite Po, he counted by using his belly to bounce her towards the wall. Viper then landed on the wall as she bounced back at Po.

Monkey was swinging and climbing the ceiling rocks, training his skill on the slippery stalagmites and his ability to fight in these conditions, he jumped from rock to rock, almost slipping at times, and practiced his moves while using his tail to hang from the rocks.

Shifu stood there, seeing how hard his students sparred, they were all determined to win, and so was Shifu. Shifu started with three dummies holding swords and spears, as he practiced to take care of all of them at once, disarming and striking their pressure points and damaging them.

Lianne came in with a tray of tea and saw how vigorous everybody was training and said in astonishment "Um, I bought--"

"LEAVE IT ON MY BED!" Everyone yelled in unison before Lianne could finish.

Liane laughed and smiled as she decided to sit down and watch them, with the tray beside her.

Po then flung Viper away as he kicked her away.

"HAAAYYAAA!" Po yelled before punching with his palm right through the dummy's head

Po panted as his arm was still inside the dummy's head.

Mantis looked at Viper and said "But that skill is Tigress's style"

Viper nodded as she looked at Po with a surprised face "Could he be trying to master both his and Tigress's style?" she thought

Po then took his hand out from the dummy and saw the dummy fell before him.

"Wanna go again?" Po asked as he got back into his stance.

Viper and Mantis smiled as they both said "What do you think?"

Then they charged at Po, while Po was still defending against their strikes, he remembered what Tigress taught him during his sparring session with her…

_Po panted as he blocked Tigress's strike from reaching his chest. They were both sparring on the giant jade bowl._

"_Is that all you've got?" Po said with a sarcastic smirk_

"_Not even close you fat panda!" Tigress said as she neared closer to him_

"_Hey That was uncalled for!" Po said as he lightened his guard_

_Tigress then took this chance and kicked him all the way to other side of the obstacle course which left him falling flat on his face._

_Po got up and said "Hey that wasn't fair" as he rubbed his head._

_Tigress got off the bowl and got closer to Po._

"_First rule is to never give in to your enemies' taunts and focus on the fight, got it?" She said as she pointed a claw nail at his chest._

"_Yeah but you didn't have to be so rough!" Po said _

"_Well then if I didn't then where would the fun be in pounding a giant fluffy plush?" Tigress said as she laughed her way out of the room._

"_Hey!" Po said with a frown, but then he smiled and laughed, she was so beautiful and graceful._

Po continued to counter Mantis's strikes and Viper's holds, as he combined both his style and Tigress's.

"Hang on Tigress, I'm coming!" Po thought as he remembered her smile.

Shifu then stopped pounding on the dummies, as he saw that their weapons were taken and broken and that their bodies were impaled and punctured in every nerve point. Shifu wiped off his sweat; he has never trained this hard since Master Oogway was still training him. Shifu then headed from the open area to his bed, as he checked his bag and found what he was looking for, an old dusty scroll with a symbol of two intertwining dragons in it.

"It is time" Shifu said as he headed for the open area with the mysterious scroll

To be continued…

Well I did say there was going to be action didn't I? Sorry if it's not intense action but I assure you, intense action packed adventure is to come in the next chapters, until then, stay tuned, and R&R!


	9. Chapter 9: Into the Subconscious

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 9: Into the Subconscious

Po swiftly did a flip jump as Monkey attacked him from above. Po jumped on a dummy and leaped onto the rocky roof, and made strikes at Monkey while hanging onto stalagmites.

Mantis grabbed Viper as he swung her around but she escaped by twirling around the dummy and escaping from Mantis's grip. Crane flew up to where Monkey and Po were and started attacking both of them. Po, Monkey, and Crane had countered and attacked each other, and when Monkey used his tail to hang upside down, he Po in the stomach as Po was about to fall down but he used his legs to hang on to the stalagmite, and fought Monkey as they both hung upside down. It was like a free for all as Lianne watched with amazement, not knowing she drank every tea cup and was on the last one, they were supposed to be for Po and the others.

Shifu then walked out from his temporary room, holding a scroll behind him and said "Po, I need to talk to you"

Everyone stopped as Monkey held Po's wrist and helped him land on the ground. Po wiped off his sweat and approached Shifu.

"What's up?" Po said

Shifu headed towards Po's room and said "Let's talk in your room"

Po and Shifu then headed for the room but before entering Shifu turned around to the others and said "Make sure no one disturbs us."

Everyone nodded but as Shifu went in they started to get curious, but everyone just started sparring again. After hearing Shifu said that, Lianne saw that she drank all the tea already, she was embarrassed and headed for the kitchen to make more.

Shifu turned around to Po inside the room and said "Now Po, I know you've improved since you started training again."

"Yeah! I kick butt don't I?" Po said

"But it's not enough to defeat Jing" Shifu said

Po snapped out of his bragging and said "Wha-?"

"You heard Lao from before, Jing knows dark magic, and who knows if he will use it in battle, and last time we were no match for him." Shifu said

"So what we just give up?" Po said as he stood up

"No!" Shifu said

Shifu then revealed the scroll he was holding to Po, it had a green etching of two intertwining dragons on it.

"What's that?" Po said

"This, Po, will aid you in your upcoming battle, this, is the Dragon Flame scroll." Shifu said

Po was surprised, in his long years of being a fan of kung-fu, he didn't know about this scroll.

"So…is this gonna be another trick scroll that'll make me think about—" Po said

"No, this is simply a scroll to begin the process of learning the Dragon Flame skill, a powerful skill that only the Dragon Warrior can learn" Shifu said

"Huh?" Po wondered as Shifu then sat on the ground and got in his meditation stance.

"Po, you do the same." Shifu said as he closed his eyes

Po then sat and did the same as Shifu and closed his eyes.

"Soooo, I have to sit here until I learn the skill?" Po asked, his eyes still closed

Shifu sighed and said "No Po, now just listen, when I open the scroll, I will start the ritual and send you into your subconscious"

"And then what?" Po asked

"You will find that out yourself, but in the mean time while I start the ritual just stay still and don't break from your meditation, and don't talk either." Shifu said

"Alright, but how is this suppose to—" Po said

"No questions!" Shifu yelled

"Okay! Alright!" Po said

Shifu opened his eyes and opened the scroll in front of him, as he started to read the scroll while keeping his hands on the words as he read.

Po sat in anticipation as he heard Shifu mutter some words he didn't understand.

Then, a red essence like flame came from the scroll and started to surround Po as Shifu read the scroll. Then, Shifu pushed his left palm forward as if to push something, and the red essence then went directly inside Po, as Po then felt his consciousness slip away.

Shifu then stood up and panted, that ritual took most of his energy.

Shifu's ear then twitched as he then said "You can come out from there now"

Then Mantis appeared from behind Po's bag with a guilty face.

"The rest of you too" Shifu said as he turned around

Crane, Viper, and Monkey then entered the room; it was obvious that they were eavesdropping.

"Sorry Master Shifu" Viper said

"Shifu sighed and said "I suppose it can't be helped"

Crane looked at Po, and saw that Po was sitting in a meditative stance, and his eyes were closed, it didn't look like he was moving at all.

Mantis jumped near Po and said "What happened to him?"

"Don't touch him, I sent him into his own sub consciousness" Shifu said as he turned around

Monkey got closer and said "Will he be alright?"

"That, I do not know, but he is the dragon warrior and I'm sure he can do it." Shifu said with assurance.

Everyone nodded as they trusted in Po as well.

"Get back to your training! Have you forgotten how long we have?" Shifu said as he turned around with a serious face

Crane and the others then headed out the room and back to their practice, while Shifu sat there, watching Po to make sure he will be safe.

Subconscious…

"Ohh….my head…" Po said as he woke up

He found himself standing in front of a big gate in a snowy area, then he realized as his eyes widened, tt was Chor Gom Prison.

"What the? Why am I here?" Po said as he turned around, but saw nothing but snow.

Po realized something, he remembered Shifu's words, and this was his sub consciousness.

"This can't be real then!" Po thought.

As put his palm on the door slowly, it opened by itself and Po saw the inside, a medieval style structure leading forward.

Po then took a step inside and saw that beneath were the same structures and wooden elevators, leading down to one circular platform underneath.

"Tai Lung…" Po thought.

The gate then closed behind Po, as Po turned around. Po remembered all the stories his dad used to tell him before bed when he was young and pretty much realized that the door's pretty much locked now.

Po turned around and moved forward, deeper into the prison.

Po traveled farther down into the prison, and finally reached the wooden platform elevator.

Po slowly stepped on the lift, and hoped for his life that the thing doesn't break from his weight.

Luckily, the lift reached it's destination without breaking, but he was pretty sure the lift rope was struggling to hold.

As Po walked forward he could see a stone road leading to the circular platform, and in the middle of it, was Tai Lung.

He was bonded by chains and the paralyzing darts on his back was there, he was immobilized again.

Po walked forward, his heart pounding with uncertainty.

When Po stepped onto the circular platform, and looked at Tai Lung, a voice in his head spoke.

"_Defeat your fear"_

Po shook his head and said "What?"

Then suddenly Tai Lung's chains became transparent, and disappeared, as so the tranquilizer darts and turtle like armor that held him.

Po took a step back but felt nothing, he moved his feet back and turned around, the road leading the lift and the lift itself were gone.

Po gulped and said "This can't be good"

Tai Lung then stood, and glared at Po as Po turned around with a surprised look.

Tai Lung growled as he saw Po standing there, he revealed his claws with a face of rage.

Po looked around and saw nothing but the rocky walls and darkness, there was no other way, and then the voice from earlier popped up again.

"_Conquer your fear"_

Po then gulped as he put on his bravest face as he got into battle stance and said "All right, let's see what ya got"

Tai Lung then pounced as Po dodged and side kicked Tai Lung. Tai Lung blocked the kick and grappled Po's foot and then spun Po around, but Po then stopped it by forcing his hand to the floor and swiftly did a flip and brought his foot with Tai Lung to the ground, Po then flipped again and pounded Tai Lung with his belly as Tai Lung grunted as Po landed in the center of the platform.

Tai Lung jumped back up and charged Po with a flurry of punches, Po blocked the strikes with his arms and hands as they kept coming, then Po was near the edge, as Tai Lung then tried to push Po, as Po used his hands to counter Tai Lung's push, their hands met as they were locked in a struggle now, both pushing each other with everything they got.

"For a someone who lives in my mind, you don't seem so fake" Po said as he then did a low roundhouse kick and grabbed Tai Lung's tail, using it as a rope as he tied it around Tai Lung as he flipped, then Po released and connected his palms together and force pushed Tai Lung all the way to the of other side as he fell of the platform. When Po had used his palm force punch, he was reminded of Tigress, for it was her who taught him that.

Po panted and knelt as he said "Whoo, wow, it's been a long time since I fought an actual person."

Then Po saw a gray claw appear at the other edge as another claw appeared and Tai Lung jumping back onto the platform.

"You don't give up do you?" Po said in a cracking voice.

Tai Lung then growled again but this time it was different, his roar sound more gruff now, more…demonic.

Po stood and charged as Tai Lung did the same; Po began striking Tai Lung as he blocked every one of them, and kicked Po. Po used his hands and reinforced his legs to stop himself from falling off the platform. Po clenched his teeth as he charged again, hitting Tai Lung with even more strikes as Po managed to land a hit on Tai Lung and did an uppercut that managed to hit as well. Tai Lung then returned with a powerful punch to Po as it hit his stomach. Po's body then shook as the force of Tai Lung's punch moved to his arms as Po palm punched him with the force Tai Lung exerted on Po.

Tai Lung then knelt on the ground to stop from falling off as Po took this chance to charge and flip kicked Tai Lung into the air.

"WAAAAYAA!" Po shouted as he jumped and grabbed Tai Lung's face in the air, and forced it into the ground. As Tai Lung bounced off the ground, Po took his left leg and spun him around like he does when he plays with his Furious Five action figures. Po released Tai Lung, sending him off, but Tai Lung then flipped and used his claw to grab onto Po before falling off the platform.

"Urghh!" Po said lightly as he felt the pain of Tai Lung's claw in his arm.

"You know, I'm getting pretty tired of you!" Po said

Po then punched Tai Lung as he flew into the wall, then as Tai Lung was falling; Po jumped on him as he was falling and leapt with all his might back into the platform, speeding up Tai Lung's fall.

Po grazed and held his arm where Tai Lung's claw was and looked over the edge. Tai Lung fell into the abyss, and a cloud of dark smoke then instantly flew up, signaling to Po that Tai Lung was no more, in his mind at least. He felt a wave of confidence now that Tai Lung was gone, like a huge weight was lifted from him.

Po felt his head throbbing as the unknown voice came again.

"_Good work, but can you face your next trial?"_

The rocky wall around Po started to be transparent, as well as the platform beneath him, all of Chor Gom prison was starting to fade away.

"Oh no, NO!" Po said before the platform and everything disappeared.

"AHHHHHHH!!" Po screamed as he fell into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Shifu sat there, meditating as he sat in front of Po.

"Po, I hope you are alright" He thought

To be continued…

Thanks for all the reviews again! Also to MasterTigress for her praising PMs, there will be more chapters and please don't rush me, I just get inspiration for my chapters before I write em' so stay tuned!


	10. Chapter 10: Heart's Eyes

Budding Emotions

Chapter 10: Heart's Eyes

Po opened his eyes as he stood up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes he saw a courtyard, and at the edges were a wall stretching to all four sides of the courtyard, making it look like a giant sand box. Many kids were playing with marbles and some were playing tag, and in the corner of the courtyard was a…

"Wait…" Po said as he looked closer and saw that it was a small panda kid, eating his lunch which was a couple of dumplings from a bamboo lunchbox; it was Po as a child.

"Whoooahh! Wait! What's going on here? Hey, voice thingy, mind tellin' me why I'm went back to my past?" Po said

But the voice didn't answer, then Po just shook his head and said "That's it, this is official, I have **GOTTA **lay off the leftover soup!"

Po then decided to approach his past self and asked "Hey kid, or…me, how's it going?"

But Po's past self just sat there, finishing up his lunch and closing his lunchbox.

Po raised an eyebrow and asked "Hey! You okay kid?" Po then tried to pat the kid's shoulder but his hand went right through as he almost tripped but regained his balance.

"Whoahhh! What the--?" Po said

Then Po heard the sound of a door opening as Po turned around and saw a pig lady in a green dress standing in front of an open door from a large building.

"Alright kids, recess is over! Time to get back to class!" The lady said as she clapped her hands to signal the kids.

Po's past self started walking towards the door with a sad face as he sighed, Po tried to pat his shoulder again but failed, Po realized that things usually don't work a third time and so Po decides to just follow his past self. When Po's child self neared the door along with other kids, the kids started to pick on him.

"Enjoyed your lunch fatso?" one kid said

"Yeah, it's a surprise he didn't eat his lunchbox in the process!" Another kid said as the rest of the kids laughed.

Po's past self used his lunchbox to shield his face as he ran back inside ahead of everybody else.

As the other kids continued laughing as they entered the building, Po then remembered everything, this was the Valley of Peace's middle school. Po also remembered how kids used to laugh and pick on him, it made him feel like an outsider, and that's what Po's past self is feeling right now.

Then as Po blinked and opened his eyes, he was in another place again, this time it was inside a classroom, and the teacher was a goose this time, as he used a thin wooden rod to point to the math problems on the board. Po could vaguely remember how to solve those problems, but he tried not to dwell too much on it.

As the teacher finished reading from his book, she looked towards the students and said "Now…Po! Can you tell me what the answer to this problem right here is?"

She pointed to a problem to the left of the board as Po's past self scratched his head and tried to answer "Um… eighte--"

Then Po's past self was interrupted when a loud cymbal noise, the class then ran towards the windows to the right of the classroom and started talking to each other about something. Po approach the window while passing through the students,** literally**, and Po saw that a festival troupe was outside, dancing and walking through the village, as a group of people waved constantly in the center of the troupe.

Po gasped as he saw that it was it was the Furious Five's past selves! They were about the same size as Po but they still had that warrior-type look. Po then struggled to remember what this event was, and then he had it.

"The Introduction Festival…" Po said to himself.

Po recalled that this was when Kung Fu was discovered by Master Oogway, and recruited the Furious Five to practice the first styles of Kung Fu, Mantis, Monkey, Tigress, and Viper. Po smiled as he remembered this, because this was the day when Po became fans of the Furious Five. Po turned to his past self and saw that he was watching in awe of the festival troupe, but Po noticed that his sight was focused on something different, Po looked in Po's direction and saw that it was Tigress that he was looking at.

"Wow…" Po's past self said as he blushed.

Po's eyes widened as he was now blushing as well, this was also the time when he fell in love with Tigress.

"Love at first sight huh?" Po said as he was still blushing

Then the teacher approached and said "Alright kids, that's enough sight seeing, back to work"

"Awwww" the kids said in unison

"This sucks!" One kid said

The teacher then turned around and said "What was that, Kirime?"

"Nothing!" The kid replied

The teacher nodded and went back to her lessons but then saw that Po's child self was still looking through the window.

"Po, get back to your seat" The teacher said with an annoyed face.

Po's past self was still looking but then the troupe moved on through the town and was out from Po's sight.

"Are you listening, Po?" The teacher asked

Po's past self sighed and said "Yes ma'am"

Po's past self then returned to his eat and looked down at his book.

Po then saw that his past self sighed as he spaced out, remembering his past, Po was sure that his past self is thinking of the Furious Five right now, but mostly…Tigress.

Po then remembered his mission and said "Alright, is there a reason why you're showing me all this?"

But no answer, Po was left to stand there in the classroom, until everything disappeared again but this time Po didn't fall, instead, a new area materialized in front of him. What he saw was a large room with a stage up front, and the Furious Five were up there, performing their kung-fu moves, and below the stage was a large group of what seems to be like teenagers, then Po realized, this was Po's high school prom night.

Po moved into the crowd to find his past self, but no luck, until Po saw his past self was standing near the left wall, cheering the Furious Five on as he held a cup of fruit dew in his right hand.

"WHOOO! HAHAHA! YEAH!" Po's teenage self said.

Po as a teenager didn't look so different, except their height and that his teenager self was a little slimmer, but only by a little.

Then two pigs walked towards Po's teenage self with cups of dew as well.

"Dude, this is awesome!" One of the pigs said

"Yeah, but Po, where's your date?"

Po's teenage self kept cheering as he yelled "Don't have one! Not yet at least" to be heard over the crowd.

The two pigs were Po's friends as he remembered Yen and Sanoske. They were his only friends in high school, and the only ones that didn't make fun of him.

"What do you mean by **not yet?"** Sanoske asked

Po smiled and turned to his friends and said "After the performance, I'm gonna ask Master Tigress to dance with me!"

The pigs looked at each other in awe and Yen said "Tigress, **MASTER **Tigress? Are you kidding?"

Po nodded as he smiled and said "No, I'm serious, after the performance they're going backstage right? Well I sneak in, ask her to dance for a bit, and after that she can go back to the Jade Palace, it's a great idea!"

Yen rubbed his head and said "Po…did you even thought about what you would do if she says no?"

Po's teenage self was lost in thought for a second but shook his head and just said "Doesn't matter, at least I would've actually talked to her, I might not get a chance like this ever again, this **IS** our senior year you know."

Sanoske just laughed lightly and said "Alright, when if you come back crying and asking us to walk you home—"

Po's teenage self then lowered his brow and made an annoyed face as he said "Shut up!"

Sanoske laughed as Po's teenage self handed him his cup and headed closer to the stage.

Sanoske and Yen stood there while watching Po wait by the stage.

"15 yen on Po failing miserably" Yen said

"It's Master Tigress he's asking, do we even **need** to bet?" Sanoske said

Po laughed as he remembered that Yen had a lust for money, ironic isn't it?

Then the show was over as the Furious Five finished up their moves and as a finisher they created a tower made of themselves and then jumped off and went back into their famous stances.

The crowd then roared as the Furious Five then bowed to the crowd and went towards the back of the stage, this was Po's, or rather, his past self's chance.

Po's teenage self then headed for the stage stairs as everybody else was dancing and mingling with each other. Then Po remembered something terrible, something bad happened in this plan of his, and it wasn't good, Po then decided to follow his past self onto the stage. Po was directly behind his teenage self as they both headed further backstage, and then they finally reached the area where the Five were meeting and talking, luckily the Five then started to leave in the back door, but Tigress was the last of them to reach the door, Po's teenage self then saw this chance and approached Tigress slowly.

"You can do this, come on! Come on!" Po's teenage self said as he neared the back curtains.

Then Po suddenly remembered the bad thing that was going to happen! Po ran up to his past self to warn him.

"HEY!! WATCH OUT! DON'T—"Po said

But it was useless, he couldn't touch or even talk to his past self, he was just a ghostly visitor here, he had no choice but to just stand there and watch the most embarrassing thing ever happened to him unfold. Then a sound of cracking can be heard as then a pile of bamboo props then dropped onto Po's teenager self, as Po was buried beneath the pile and depending on the sheer weight of those props, he wasn't going to get up with one try.

"Oops! Sorry!" A man from above the bamboo platform of the stage said

The man turned to look below the hole as he saw a hand sticking out of the props pile and said "Oh my god! This can't be good"

The man headed down as Tigress turned around, confused of what just happened, as she headed for the pile.

When they both reached the pile the man said "There's someone under that pile, please…help!"

Tigress didn't hesitate as she then began digging through the pile as though it was a pile of pillows, until she found a dazed panda teenager lying on the floor, dazed of what happened.

"Wha—Ti-gress, MASTER TIGRESS!" Po's past self then stood up and met Tigress's eyes

"You ok kid?" the man said, he appeared to be the stage manager.

"Yeah, pretty much" Po's past self said

Po sighed in relief as he realized that it must've been his belly that protected him from the pile of props.

Po's teenage self then turned to Tigress and said "Thank you, Master Tigress, I was also wondering if you woul—"

"Just be careful next time, stupid panda" Tigress interrupted as she then turned around and headed out the back door.

Po's past self then stood there, with a sad look now that he was rejected, sort of at least.

The manager stood there with a confused look and said "What were you doing back here anyways kid?"

Po's past self said nothing as he headed out back into the crowd area, saying nothing to the manager.

Po grazed his arm and had a semi-sad face and said "…She must've forgotten about this…"

Po remembered that even after this, he never gave up on Tigress and The Five, he loved her, and even if she didn't share his feelings, it was enough to see her smile.

Then everything disappeared once again and now materialized into the Hall of Warriors in the Jade Palace.

Po massaged his head and said "Alright, this is starting to get me dizzy, you mind telling me why you're showing me all this?!"

Then a dark mist traveled from back of Po and to the front of him, near the Sword of Heroes.

The mist then materialized and formed into a familiar figure, semi-slim, dark stripes, red eyes, it was Tigress, except her fur isn't orange this time, but it was a dark mix of purple and gray.

The mist had turned into the almost perfect replica of Tigress.

"Uhhh…O…k…this could be bad" Po said while getting into his stance.

The beast then charged at Po, hitting Po with palm strikes and fast kicks, these were Tigress's moves, which made it even harder to defend against, as Po was struck in the waist and was kicked all the way into the Moon pool.

The beast then laughed as Po regained his balance and got out of the pool.

As the water was still dripping from his fur, Po shook his head dry and said "Ok…that was **WAY **too déjà vu."

The beast charged again as Po used the nearby pillar and jumped off it onto the next one. The beast then punched the pillar as it sent cracks towards to top of the pillar and then destroying it, Po jumped and landed near the door as the pillar went down.

The beast then growled and charged at Po, Po then swiftly got up and blocked her strikes.

"That's it, I gotta hit her, but I just…can't" Po thought.

Then Po let his guard down as the beast punched Po in the stomach, sending him flying and crashing into the door. Po then fell off and landed on the floor, kneeling as he held back the pain and caught his breath.

"_What will you do?" The voice said_

"Oh so what? Now you answer?" Po said as got up, the beast was eyeing him with evil intent.

"_Will you fight and conquer the beast?" The voice asked_

Po then was lost in deep thought as he closed his eyes and thought about holding Tigress's hands, meeting her under the peach tree, falling in love with her, seeing her eyes, carrying her while climbing the mountain, and even the kiss she gave him. All this extended his love for her, as he thought about how Tigress is hanging on right now. As Po opened his eyes, he could see something different, something faint but clear, the beast…

"I get it now…" Po said

The beast then grabbed the Sword of Heroes and threw it at Po, Po only stood there as the sword flew right past his face, leaving a cut mark on his left cheek. The beast then pounced at Po, revealing it's claws as it neared Po. Po only stood there once again and held out his arms, then when the beast got close, he grabbed the beast and hugged it, the dark mist then disappeared and slithered away, leaving the real Tigress in Po's arms.

"Tigress…" Po whispered as he hugged Tigress

He held her for a long time before he said "I—I love you"

But then everything disappeared once again, leaving just Po behind, not even Tigress who Po was holding was allowed to stay.

"No! Wait!" Po said as he held out his hand to reclaim the Tigress who was disappearing before his eyes, but it didn't work, she was gone.

A tear rolled down Po's face as he lowered his arm and closed his eyes, he wanted to hold Tigress longer, to see her smile again.

"Tigress…" Po thought

"_Impressive" The voice said again, but this time it was coming from behind of Po_

Po turned around, wiping his tears and opening his eyes as he saw somebody wearing a yellow and brown martial arts outfit standing by the Pool of Sacred Tears, Po didn't realize that the place had changed so quickly.

"_You saw with your heart, not with your eyes, and saw past the cold and vicious exterior of Tigress, I commend you for that" The man said_

The man was also wearing a straw hat, as he held his arms behind him while looking into the lake.

Po thought he looked familiar and said "Who are you?"

The man raised his head and said "Ahh yes, I forgot to introduce myself"

The man turned around and Po saw under the straw hat and saw that it was…a panda, it was Po but in very much slimmer and wearing martial arts clothes.

"You're…" Po said in awe

The man looked at Po and said "Yes, I am you, or rather, the you that you wish to be."

**To be continued…**

**Whoo! Longest chapter so far, anyways sorry for the short delay but yeah I get tired so thanks for the reviews and praises! I really enjoy the reviews I got so far so thanks! R&R!**


	11. Chapter 11: Resolve

Budding Emotions

Chapter 11: Resolve

Po backed up in awe as he saw the man in front of him, he was a spitting image of the person he acted as in his dreams.

"So you're the one who showed me my past and all that?" Po asked

"Hmmm, well, yes and no" The man said

Po then looked with confusion at his other self.

"This is your sub conscious after all, the memories you saw were imbedded in here, I only guided you towards them." The man said with a smile

"Well than why did you show them to me?" Po asked with his hand on his arm, he was beginning to feel the pain of when Tai Lung used his claws to grab onto Po.

"To test you of course" The man said casually

"Test me?" Po asked

"You came here for a reason didn't you?" Po's alternate self said

Po then remembered, he was sent here by Shifu to learn a technique called the Dragon Flame.

Po's other self then said "Well, you made it this far, that's what matters, I'm surprised too, most of the others before you couldn't even make it this far."

Po grazed his injury and said "Others?"

"Yes, the Dragon Warriors before you" The man said as he then turned back to the Pool of Sacred Tears.

Po was surprised at this; he didn't know there were others before him that read the scroll.

"So why all those tests? And why are you here?" Po asked, keeping his caution against this figure

The man sighed and said "Once again, it was to test you, the first one I had to see if you could overcome your fear, and that was the thought of Tai Lung escaping again."

Po then looked at the injury on his arm, a grim reminder of the fight against Tai Lung.

"The second was to see if you had good judgment, if you were able to see with your heart, not with your eyes." Po's other self said

Po remembered how the memories he saw all led up to Tigress, and how he decided to not fight her, when he closed his eyes and thought about Tigress, he could see her true self, the part that he fell in love with.

Po's past self looked into the deep lake with a smirk and said "You love her, don't you?"

Po then looked up in surprise as he then tried to say something smart but couldn't think of any.

Po's other self laughed and said "It is alright, I just took a peek into your memories, I see you are determined to rescue her."

Po's face then toughened up as he nodded.

"That's good…" Po's other self said as he turned around again and released his arms from his back.

"Now that we're done with questions, let us begin with your third test." Po's other self said before he went into battle stance.

Po smiled as he knew what his test was, and Po readied himself as well.

"Enough talk! LET'S FIGHT!" They both said in unison before they charged at each other.

Po started with a few jabs and palm strikes as Po's other self did well to block them and returned the favor with a kick to the waist and a round house kick which sent Po to fall flat on his belly on the floor, as his other self then bended Po's right hand to his back and sitting on it to trap Po.

As Po's other self was sitting on Po, an apple appeared on his hands as he took a bite while saying "Are you sure you're the dragon warrior?"

Po then lifted himself and did a flip in an effort to slam his other self to the ground.

As Po's other self was going to be smashed between the ground and Po's back, he took his apple and slammed it to the ground, using it as a block to hold on to that held back Po's attempt to smash him.

As Po was pushing backwards to try and smash his other self to the ground, he said "You still haven't answered one question!"

Po's other self held on to the apple as hard as he could as he also tried to push Po back. "I thought we were done with questions!"

As the apple was about to break from the sheer weight of the two warriors, Po's other self then pushed Po up with all his might, sending Po to fly across the lake, but crushing the apple in the process.

Po luckily landed on top of a stone pillar and said "Why are you here? You're supposed to be in my dreams!"

Po's other self regained his balance and wiped the apple juice from his hands and said "You don't remember? I'm the spirit that came from the Dragon Flame scroll!"

Po then grazed his arm again as the claw mark on his arm was still not healed.

"As I entered your sub consciousness, I simply took the form of whom you wish to be, and I admit, you have a good imagination, this is the best body I've had in ages" Po's other self.

Po then smiled a bit out of the flattery but then turned into a grim expression as Po's other self then was jumping on the lilipads that were in the lake towards Po.

Po's other self than jumped off a lilipad and gave a solid side kick to the stone pillar Po was on.

"Oh--not good!" Po yelled as he then frantically tried to keep his balance, but the pillar toppled over and fell on the lake like a log. Po and his other self then landed on the pillar and got into their stances, as the pillar floated further across the lake.

Po struggled to keep balance as one false move and his weight will cost him the duel.

Po's other self remained in stance and said "You're pretty good, I can tell you've practiced with great effort"

Po then assessed the situation, and thought of an idea, but it was risky.

"Alright, this isn't the time to be thinking logical, I'm inside my own mind, talking and fighting my other self, let's do this" Po thought.

"Tell me something, are you afraid of heights?" Po said with a smirk

Po's other self was confused as Po then raised his back leg and stomped down on his edge of the pillar, sending Po's other self flying past Po.

Po then regained the pillar's balance and looked behind him and saw Po's other self flying towards another pillar in the lake.

"HAHA! YEAH! YOU JUST GOT WHUPPED BY THE—" Po shouted before he stopped in his tracks when Po's other self flipped over and landed vertically on the side of the pillar, as he looked at Po and gave a devilish smile.

Po's eyes widened as he saw this and gritted his teeth as he readied himself for his opponent's next move.

Po's others self then climbed his way on top of the pillar and smash his fist down, creating cracks down the pillar, Po's kicked a piece of the pillar towards Po like a soccer ball.

As it was headed towards Po, he ducked as it flew by his head.

"Is this your determination, if so than you can just forget about saving Tigress!" Po's other self said as he stood on top of the messed up pillar.

Po was frustrated, he was stuck on a pillar in the water, and the only way to get out was to jump on lilipads like his other self did but with his weight it is impossible, he struggled to find a way.

Then without warning another pillar rubble came towards Po. Po then breathed in and used his stomach to block the rubble, and the rubble fell apart upon impact.

Po then grazed his tummy, while having to worry about his injury at the same time.

"Ohhh man! I didn't eat that much during dinner, and now I gotta fight this guy…" Po thought as he tried to keep balance on the soon sinking pillar.

Then Po had an idea, if his tummy could block the rubble, then maybe it could also…

"That all you got!?" Po yelled

His other self then kicked another rubble at Po, while Po just stood there, waiting for the right moment, then when it got close Po breathed in all the air he could and strengthened his stomach, as he then bounced towards the rubble, sending it flying back to Po's other self, knocking him into the lake.

Po then tried to land on the pillar but he slipped and fell into the lake as well, Po then paddled upwards and hanged on to the pillar as a floatie. As the air got quiet, Po caught his breath and saw that his wounds were clean now, but still there.

Po checked around to see if his enemy was still here, but nothing, it was quiet. Then Po felt a tug at he feet as he was then pulled down into the water all of a sudden. Po looked down and saw that his other self had pulled him down, and then he grabbed Po's legs and threw him upwards, as Po landed into the other side of the lake, on the grassy land.

Po panted as he tried to get up but was too exhausted and wet, the water had made him feel heavier than usual. Po's other self then landed in front of Po as Po looked up and saw a expression of seriousness on his other self's face, as the water dripped from his straw hat.

"Pathetic, and I thought you stood a chance against me, guess I was wrong." Po's other self said

Po still struggled to get up, but couldn't, he was helpless at the feet of his other self.

Po's other self scoffed and said "I shouldn't even try, it was senseless to choose a fat panda as the dragon warrior"

Po then got frustrated as he couldn't get up, but he was right, Po wasn't strong enough, he couldn't even protect Tigress. But then Po remembered something, something important that he was taught.

"_First rule is to never give in to your enemies' taunts and focus on the fight, got it?"_

It was Tigress who taught him that, and that made Po remember why he has to win, why he has to be strong.

"_Well then if I didn't then where would the fun be in pounding a giant fluffy plush panda?"_

"_Don't worry, I'll protect you"._

Po's other self than started to walk away, then Po slowly stood up as Po's other self turned around.

"I…I made a promise, and I'm not gonna break it! I am determined, I do have something to fight for, I LOVE TIGRESS! THAT'S WHY I WILL SAVE HER!" Po said

Po's other self than smiled and said "Than show me your resolve!"

Po then got into stance as well as his other self.

"This is it…" Po thought

Po then charged and began with a high kick as Po's other self blocked it, then Po smirked and pounded down his leg with all his might, smashing his other self's hand as well.

"Yahhh!" Po's other self yelled as he lowered his guard…

Po then used his belly and bounced Po's other self all the way across, but then Po grabbed his other self's left foot and pounded him down on the ground like a hammer.

Then Po's other self regained himself and tried to strike Po with a combo of side kicks and punches, but Po didn't block, he just took the punches and kicks as Po then just attacked with palm strikes and an uppercut, leaving his other self to stumble back. Po then tried to swipe kick his other self but then he ducked and turned Po around and bent his arms over, locking him.

"Bad idea, buddy" Po said as he then used his butt to bounce his other self straight towards a rock near the lake.

Po's other self than tried to stand up but saw a fist in front of him, Po had already got the first move, he held his stance in front of his other self, signaling his victory.

His other self laughed as his hat fell down, revealing his small ears like Po's.

"Excellent! I haven't been beaten in years!" He said

Po then lowered his stance and helped his other self up.

Po's other self sighed in relief and said "Finally, I was getting bored with all my victories too."

Po cracked a smile as Po's other self put his hat back on and straightened his outfit.

"Po, out of all the dragon warriors I've faced, you interest me the most, where did you learn those peculiar moves?" Po's other self said with ease.

"It's my panda style kung-fu, and…tiger style" Po said with a sad face.

Po's other self said "Po, you will save her, I know it, you've proved that much by beating me, and now, I will bestow upon you the strength you need to save her."

Po's other self than grabbed Po's wrists and looked directly at Po.

"What are you doing?" Po said out of confusion

Po's other self's eyes then started to grow blue, like it was when he came from the scroll and said "Po the Dragon Warrior, protector of China! I bestow upon you the power of the Dragon Flame"

Po's other self than materialized back into his spirit form, and entered Po's body through his hands, as a blue aura emanated from Po. Po then felt great energy inside him, as Po then started to float up, feeling the power becoming one with him. Po closed his eyes heard a familiar voice.

"_Po…you have great potential, I can see it in you, you defeated me by using your unique style, and that will be your key to victory, the element of surprise, and with this power, you can now extinguish any darkness with the Dragon's Flame, use it well…"_

Po then opened his eyes as the aura emanating from him then turned red, as Po then landed on the ground, and felt stronger within him.

Po then lifted his hands, and then fire had engulfed his hands.

"GAHHHH! FIRE!!" Po said as he tried to blow them out.

Po then realized that the flames didn't hurt him, they were on Po's hands and he felt no pain, Po then smirked and realized it.

"This is the Dragon Flame…" Po thought

Po then performed a series of jabs and punches, as the flames were increasing his strength and vitality. Then Po did a swipe kick as flame appeared where Po had kicked.

"WOOOHOOO!!" Po yelled as he played with the flames.

Po then looked up and thought "I wonder if maybe…"

Po then concentrated in his mind, thinking of the sky, and then wings made of flame appeared on Po's back.

Po looked behind him and saw the wings had resembled a dragon's wings "AWESOME!!"

Po then took off to the sky and saw the lake below him.

"What do you know it does look like the yin and yang symbol." Po said as he then landed on the ground.

The wings then disappeared and Po was feeling more tired than he was after the fight.

"_Careful, you can't use this power forever you know."_

Po then smiled and said "Thank you"

"_No need for thanks, you however, should thank whoever sent you here to learn this new power."_

Po then remembered master Shifu, and thought about how he was holding up.

"_Now Po, This is the last time I can talk to you, I can only commute in this realm, once you leave, you're on your own, but I trust you can do it."_

Po nodded with a look of bravery as he then felt dizzy.

"_Good luck, Po"_

**Back at the Hideout…**

Po then woke up from his trance, as he saw Master Shifu sitting in front of Po, and Lianne standing beside him.

Po then stood up with ease, he was surprised, he couldn't feel the burden of his wounds anymore, he felt better, like a huge weight was lifted from his soul.

"Po! Are you alright? And where did you get that hat?" Shifu said as he stood up with a confused look

"What ha—" Po said as he felt his head but felt a harder surface, then he grabbed it and saw that it was a straw hat, the same his dream self was wearing.

"Po?" Shifu asked

Po smiled and said "It was a gift…from a friend"

Shifu then sighed out of relief that Po was alright.

"How long was I gone?" Po asked as he held the hat

"A couple of hours, it is night now, and according to Lianne, one more day until the essence is extracted from Tigress." Shifu said with a serious look

"Then no time to lose, I have to get training!" Po said as he laid the hat on his bed and headed for the door.

Shifu then turned around and said "Po wait! What about the—"

Po then stopped as he was about to open the door and said "Master Shifu…"

Shifu then stopped and listened to Po.

Po's other hand then lit on fire as he said "I love Tigress…that's why…I can't afford to lose her" Then he headed outside

Shifu then smiled as Po headed out the door. "I knew he could pass the trials, and realize his love…Master Oogway, you've chosen well, my master" he thought.

Lianne then approached Shifu and asked "Do you think he'll be alright?"

Shifu laughed lightly and said "He has to, for her sake…"

Po then walked towards Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane as they were training; they stopped as soon as they saw Po.

"Po! You alright?" Mantis asked as he hopped on a broken piece of a training dummy.

"Yeah you seemed a bit out of it when we came to check up on you, you were making noises like you were getting hurt" Viper said

Po laughed and said "Well I'm ok now"

Po then grazed his arm and felt nothing, the injury he got wasn't there, it must've disappeared when he exited his mind.

"Still up for training?" Crane asked while getting into stance.

"Do you need to ask" Po said with a smirk as he got ready as well as the others.

Po then charged at them with ferocity and determination.

"Tigress…Hold on, I'm coming!" Po thought.

**To be continued…**

**Sorry if I took a while to upload, but hey, even I can get tired ok? Anyways yes I know the final battle is coming, and yes it will be a long one, so stay tuned! R&R!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Assault Begins

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 12: The Assault Begins

**Night…**

After Po had gained his new power and trained with the others, they all got into the dining room with Lianne.

As they entered they saw that many of the escapees of Jing Fei's rule were in the room as well, it was like a cafeteria except with mostly injured people with their children.

Po looked around and asked "Why are they hurt?"

The group followed Lianne as she explained "Many of us tried to overcome Jing Fei's rule, but we always failed, and we tried many plans I assure you."

The group finally reached an open table at the near corner and sat down while Lianne only stood.

"I'm going to prepare the food, it might take a while considering all these other people, I'm sorry" Lianne said

Crane smiled and said "No, it's alright"

Lianne then bowed her head as she then headed for the kitchen.

Mantis jumped on the table and said "Wow, seems like she's the only one taking care of these people here along with that old man."

"Speaking of old man, where's Shifu? He's not coming?" Po asked

"I don't know either, he could still be training." Viper said

Mantis chuckled and said "No surprise, all these years he's been teaching, but not practicing that much."

Po then realized that Mantis was right, everyday he spent at the Jade Palace, he'd never seen Shifu practice, just mostly meditate.

Crane only sat there pecking at his bandage until he raised his head and asked "Umm… Po, about the meditation trance you had…what happened?"

Po then pondered deeply of how to explain the whole situation without taking too long, but it stumped him.

"Might as well, they're gonna ask sooner or later" Po thought.

Po rested his arms and the table and said "Well, if you really want to know, what happened was that I was sent to…"

**Moments later…**

"And then he gave me this new power and a cool new hat." Po said with a smile

The others' then snapped out of it as they realized their mouths were still open and their eyes were widened.

Mantis then said "Yeah, fighting Tai Lung and a powerful spirit must've hurt."

Po laughed in his mind as he left out the part about fighting Tigress's shadow clone and hugging her.

Monkey then raised an eyebrow and asked "Wait, but didn't the spirit say there were three trials?"

Everyone then looked at Po as Po's eyes widened

Po stuttered and said "W-Well, He m-must've forgotten about that"

Viper then had a suspicion of what it might be and said "Po, was it about—"

Then Lianne walked forward the table and interrupted Viper as she set down the tray of noodle bowls.

"Sorry again about the wait" Lianne said as she wiped the dust off her apron.

Po then saw this as a chance and took his bowl and said "Well, let's eat!"

Viper then decided to save it for later as she knew there would be no stopping Po once he unleashes on the bowl.

Mantis grabbed a spoon and started eating as he said "Well isn't this a walk down memory lane?"

Lianne looked confused as Monkey then explained "Po is our cook at the Jade Palace, he makes noodles all the time, his family's owns a noodle shop."

Lianne then smiled and said "Well I hope my noodles don't disappoint you, Po"

Po then stopped eating for a while and said "It's pretty good, but the soup is cold though"

Lianne then frowned lightly and said "Oh I'm sorry, I was in such a rush that I—"

Po then place the bowl on top of the palm of his hand and said "Don't worry, I got it."

Po then concentrated as his hands then lit on fire, warming up the soup.

Everyone gasped as Lianne then said "Oh god! Po your hand is—"

Po then stopped the flames before the soup would get too hot and said "Don't worry, it's just something I learned while taking a trip in my mind"

"Oh…sorry if I made a commotion." Lianne said as she sat down

Po smiled and said "Don't worry, it's natural to panic when someone's hands light on fire.

"Well why didn't you tell us sooner?" Crane said

Po smiled as he was waiting to show off his new power to his friends, it wasn't the first time he was unique but he was happy.

Po shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating his now hot noodles.

Everyone then started eating as well, still wondering where Master Shifu was.

**Meanwhile…**

Shifu had finished beating down a series of training dummies and was catching his breath.

"pant It's been a long time since I have trained this hard pant" Shifu said

Shifu then stopped panting and straightened himself and thought " Po and the others are working hard…as their master I must be strong for them…"

Shifu then remembered the days of when Master Oogway was still his master.

_Back then at the Pool of Sacred Tears…_

_Shifu dropped to the ground, panting out of exhaustion from the hike he took to get here._

_Master Oogway walked past Shifu and stopped in front of the lake._

"_Master…pant why have you brought me here?" Shifu asked as he got to his feet._

_Master Oogway turned around and said "Shifu, come closer"_

_Shifu approached and stood in front of the lake, seeing his reflection in the water, his face was less grouchy and wrinkled back then._

_Master Oogway sighed as he closed his eyes and said "Shifu…can you feel it? The calm and tranquility that this lake brings"_

_Shifu tried hard but could not feel anything, except for the doubt that his master might be crazy._

"_Master, I don't feel anything" Shifu said_

"_Close your eyes, and ease the stress in your mind, and let the calm in." Master Oogway said_

_Shifu closed his eyes and tried to block out the stress of his mind, and waited for a feeling of calm. Then, a strange feeling entered Shifu, he felt…lighter, and his mind more relaxed._

"_What is this feeling?" Shifu said, his eyes still shut._

"_It is the feeling of tranquility and peace, my pupil, I discovered this lake not so long ago during my journey around the world from the Galapagos Islands, and found that just that standing by this very lake, you can find peace of mind."_

_Shifu now felt like he understood why Master Oogway brought him here now._

"_Master…did you bring me here because of __**that**__ event?" Shifu said_

_Master Oogway opened his eyes and said "Yes Shifu, you are destined to teach the next Dragon Warrior and a group of skilled warriors"_

"_As foretold by the moon pool, I know" Shifu answered _

"_Shifu, if you are to become a master, you must have peace of mind, and teach your students well, just as I have taught you" Oogway said_

_Shifu nodded as he looked down at the lake, seeing his somewhat doubtful face._

_Oogway then turned to Shifu and said "__**THAT **__event was also foretold in the moon pool, and you must be prepared to teach your students well in the future when that event happens."_

_Shifu frowned as he doubted that he would become a great master, he could not even take Master Oogway's staff from him while he's asleep._

"_Shifu…know that I did not train you and become your master just because the moon pool depicted so, but also because I see greatness in you, I believe that you will teach your students well in the future…there will be hardships, I will tell you that, but I believe your students will survive through them." Oogway said while placing his hand on Shifu's shoulder._

_Shifu smiled and said "Thank you…Master"_

_Oogway nodded and sat down and placed his staff in front of him, as he closed his eyes and went into a meditative stance._

_Shifu followed his actions and did the same, as they both sat there, enjoying their peace of mind and tranquility._

Shifu felt a tear come down his eye as he then wiped it and got back into stance, eyeing the last dummy that stood in his path.

**Back at the dinner hall…**

Po had already finished his noodle bowl and playing with his new power as he lit his hands on fire and then stopped it, he repeated this until everyone finished their noodle bowls as well, and Lianne took their bowls and stacked them onto a tray.

"I hope you guys liked it" Lianne said with a smile.

"It was delicious" Viper said while wiping her mouth with her tail.

"Thanks, Lianne!" Po said as he stood up, ready to return to training.

Before Lianne walked away, she turned around and said "Oh! I almost forgot, Lao said to meet him in the meeting room after you guys finished eating, its two doors down from Po's room, the door has a dove on it, you can't miss it"

Then Lianne walked away, tending to other civilians in the hideout.

The others then stood up and followed Po as he headed outside the lunch hall and to the meeting room Lianne mentioned.

As the group was walking, Viper saw this as a chance to finally bring up the subject that was dropped during dinner again.

"Po, about that third trial you had in your mind…was it about Tigress?" Viper asked

Po and everybody suddenly stopped, Po then let out a long sigh as turned around and said "Yes…it did"

Viper's eyes then widened, she didn't expect Po to be so honest.

"What happened then?" Mantis asked while hopping onto Po's shoulder.

"Look, can we talk about this later?" Po said as he approached the meeting room door.

Viper was still determined to find out but she decided to let the subject temporarily drop, again.

Everyone entered the room and they saw that Lao and Master Shifu were inside already, they were sitting beside a large round table with what looks like a map on it.

"Ah you're here! Please, sit down, we must discuss of your plan to attack Jing Fei's fortress,"

Everyone sat down except for Mantis who jumped on the map, trying to study it.

Shifu stood on his chair and said "As you know, tomorrow will be the day when the summoning ritual of the Godly Essence, and it will also be the last chance we have to save Tigress,"

Po nodded as Shifu then used his bamboo flute to point to the map.

Shifu pointed to what seemed like a line that was part of a giant square.

"Now, based on the description Lao's spy has given us, the fortress would look like this, and here is the gate." Shifu said

The others took a look and saw that it didn't look much, but then again it was only a drawing.

Shifu then pointed to smaller individual squares by the gate and said "These are the guard towers defending the fortress, and there will be guards outside guarding the door as well."

Shifu then raised his flute and said with a gruff tone "But do not be fooled, these are not their only defenses"

Everyone nodded as then Lao stood up and began to speak "There are also an elite trio of warriors that follow Jing and guards his fortress, they are the Seraphic Angels."

Everyone was surprised when they heard this, they began to wonder if they will be a formidable opponent.

"There were more elite groups of warriors other than us?" Crane thought as he placed his wing on his beak.

Lao then continued and said "They are a group of three female warriors, and they can be **deadly"**

Crane then placed his left wing on the table and asked "Can you tell us about them? Maybe more about their fighting style?"

Lao then sat down and frowned as he said "Unfortunately our spy was not able see them fight, but I do know about their past"

Shifu then sat down as Lao began to tell the Seraphic Angels' story.

_The Seraphic Angels are of three women, Lily, Marin, and Sayasha. They are triplets who were born in a very bad area. They had lived in a place called "The Town of Bliss" And the area was as peaceful and caring as the name implies, but…times change. As the girls grew up the town they lived in changed, people turned greedy for cash, lustful, and even started to kill. The girls were only children by then, and they did not understand why this happened, and they tried to live the best of their lives surviving in this hell-turned town. But…one day the girl's parents started to bicker again, as they always did, and as it went on the bickering went to the extreme, and a murder happened. Some say it was because one of the parents went insane, or maybe they killed because out of pure hatred, no one knows…_

_After that incident, the girls woke up one morning and found their mother dead, laying there on the ground of her room, as blood was surrounding her, the girls were shocked as any child would, and they ran away from home, never looking back. After miles of running and braving starvation, the girls had found a dojo near the Ancients' Highlands, and fainted out of exhaustion in front of the gate, the master saw this and took them in, and started to train them in the ways of Kung-Fu and weaponry. But as the girls grew to be adults, they started to see the truth of the world, and found to them selves that our kind is corrupt, and should perish for it, as revenge for their mother started to seep in their minds. And so one day, the dojo was visited by a winged eagle who went by the name of…Jing Fei, and he has heard of the girls' talents, and asked them to join, telling them of his ideals of a better world. The girls were very inclined to accept, for he shared their ideals, but the master declined, for he saw that this man was up to no good. Then Jing Fei proposed a fight to decide who the girls would go to, as the master accepted and the fight begun._

_Unfortunately, the master was no match for Jing Fei, but for good reasons, he had used black magic in that fight, as did with the fight with Tigerius. The master was injured very severely in his arms and chest, and as he layed there on the ground, all he could do was watch the girls go with Jing, to watch the girls he had saved and treated as his daughters. Luckily the girls were not cruel, they called for a doctor to come save the master, and over time he had healed, but not entirely. His arms and chest were cut very bad, and even though they healed, he could never perform martial arts ever again. He never found in his heart to ever let go of the fact that his apprentices were gone, it crushed his heart, leaving him unable to do martial arts physically and emotionally._

_As for the girls, I heard that they went training under Jing Fei, and learned to fight like he does, and now…they are the elite guard leaders for his fortress._

Everyone started to feel their stomachs in a knot as Lao finished the story.

"Where is he now?" Po asked

Lao then looked down with a grim expression as he grazed his arms.

Po saw scars on his arms as Po then understood. "You were…their master"

Lao said nothing as he then just nodded slowly.

Veryone then started to feel worse as they found this out, Shifu then stood up with a serious face as he held back his sadness and said "Alright, we must get back to the plan"

Everyone then looked up and nodded as Shifu then began detailing the plans to the assault to the fortress.

Time flew by as Shifu then finally finished explaining the invasion and stood prominently on his chair and said "This is our plan, in order to do this on time we must execute this skillfully and smoothly, as your master I am very proud of you, you have made it this far with me on this journey, especially you Po."

Po smiled and nodded as Shifu nodded back and said "We will begin once everyone is ready, I suggest you move fast, go!"

Everyone then quickly stood up and moved from the room as if it was back at the palace.

**Nearing Midnight… **

Po was getting prepared in his room as he attached his metal armbands on his wrists and then lit his hand on fire and saw that the metal band was intact, and smiled as he then extinguished the fire, he had a plan with his armbands and his new power.

He then heard a knock on his door as he then went to open it. He saw that it was Lianne holding what seemed to be a folded up black kimono looking thing.

"It's for you, the women here and I made it for you and the others, for your invasion." Lianne said as she handed Po the clothing.

"Thanks" Po said as he held the outfit in his hands, eager to wear it.

"I also wanted to say that…I'll be joining you as well" Lianne said

Po then stared at her with confusion as she then frowned and said "Jing…he…during his attack on the Highlands he ravaged the whole town, harming innocent people and killing them…"

Po then frowned as he set the clothes on the table nearby and returned to listen.

"My parents…they were only peaceful shop clerks, they didn't do anything wrong! And yet they were killed!" Lianne said as tears came down her face.

She began to wipe them and said "They sacrificed themselves while I…I did nothing but run away, I'M NOTHING BUT A COWARD!" Lianne said as she then ell on Po's chest and cried.

Po then hugged her as he whispered "It's ok, they wanted you to live, you're not a coward for running, your parents knew what was happening, and so they wanted you to live, you, their awesome daughter."

She started to stop crying as Po said "I know what it's like to see someone be lost to you before your eyes, and it hurts, but that's natural, it just means you love them with all your heart"

Lianne then rose from Po's chest as he let her go as she wiped away the last of her tears.

"The best you can do Lianne…is to live on for them and fight on for their sake." Po said as he smiled.

Lianne gave a weak smiled and said "You're right…I'm sorry Po, when you came I was so dependent on you that I didn't realize what you guys wanted…I only cared about my problems."

Po then tapped her shoulder and said "It's ok,"

Lianne then nodded with a confident face and said "Thank you, Po, you are truly the dragon warrior, Miss Tigress is very lucky to have you"

Po then blushed as he scratched the back of his neck and said "Well uh…we're not together yet but uh…"

Lianne giggled as she said "I'll go get ready, you should too" She then walked towards her room as Po closed his door and began to think.

"I'm not the only one with burdens on this battle…" He thought.

Po then smiled and thought "That's why…I have to save Tigress, and the Highlands...for everyone's sake!"

As minutes passed Po had finally put on his outfit for the battle, he was wearing a sleek black kimono shirt and pants that resembled that of a ninja's outfit. He felt more comfortable in these clothes as they were very light and were very dark colored, then he looked and saw that his outfit had a dragon symbol at the upper left part where his chest is.

"Aweeeesome" Po said as he smiled.

Po made sure his metal armbands were on tight and then wore the straw hat he was given from the spirit and headed out the door. He waited on the clear area as the others then appeared from their room.

Mantis was wearing a very small outfit, but it was the same as Po's but Po saw that he had a Mantis symbol on the back.

The same was for Viper, Crane, and Monkey, as they all had their own symbols on their clothing. Then Shifu appeared from behind them all as he was wearing yet another of the same suit they were wearing, and his symbol was a red panda's face.

Everyone made a circle around Shifu as he said "Alright my students, this will be one of your greatest hardships, and I have faith, that you will all survive."

Everyone nodded as Shifu continued "I want everyone to use teamwork in this battle, it will be your greatest weapon, as well as your determination"

"Yes, Master!" Everyone said in unison

Then Po heard foot steps as he turned around and saw Lianne but she was different. Instead of the apron and dress she was wearing earlier, she was now wearing a dark colored warrior's outfit with a katana strapped on her back.

Everyone else turned around and saw what Po had seen and were all surprised as she then said "I-I know how to fight, Lao taught me and…I might not be a master, but I can be of a help to you all s-so, will you accept my help?"

Everyone looked at Shifu with a pleading face as Shifu rolled his eyes and said "Alright, you can come, but I expect you all to treat her as if she was an apprentice at the Jade Palace!"

"Yes, Master Shifu!" Everyone said.

Lianne had a look of relief as she then joined the others as they walked towards the exit that Shifu had told them about.

But before they could go they were stopped by signs of increasing footsteps as they turned around and saw that every citizen in the hideout was standing in front of them.

Lao, who was in the front then said "We all wanted to wish you good luck"

The crowd behind Lao then roared with cheers for the group as Lao joined them.

"GOOD LUCK WARRIORS!" One persons yelled

"BRING PEACE BACK TO THE HIGHLANDS!" Another yelled

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" A woman yelled.

The group smiled as they all waved at the group and turned around, more determined as ever as they headed out the large metal door, and out the hideout.

As they exited they arrived in a dark place and there was a bright circle in front of them as they approached it, and was outside.

They had arrived in the bamboo forest, like last time, the hideout was actually in a cave in the forest as Po then realized.

Everyone then headed the way Lao told them about as they reached a ledge and looked to the horizon not so far from the ledge and saw it…Jing Fei's Fortress.

**To be continued...**

**Yes, sorry if the background story seems a bit too cheesy or something but I wanted the OCs to have background stories, deep ones too, and yes the final battle is coming as said before, but it's not just gonna end in just one chapter, that's not how I write, so stay tuned and R&R Oh! and thank you Soul Raider 116 for your long but informative reviews, it really helped!**


	13. Chapter 13: Gentle Lily

Budding Emotions:

Chapter 13: Gentle Lily

Four rhino guards equipped with armor and maces stood at the giant gate of the fortress as Po and the others waited for an opening like they had planned.

The group was now hiding behind the forests trees that surrounded the fortress. Po felt the sweat coming down his brow as he tried to contain his nervousness.

Po was about to wipe his brow when a hand suddenly held his hand, as he looked the other way he saw that it was Lianne, she nodded as a sign of confidence to Po that he should not be afraid.

Po took a deep breath in his mind as he then nodded towards the others, signaling their start of the invasion.

Mantis crept out first as he quickly made his way towards the guards, unnoticed and stealthily.

Mantis then started crawling upwards the first guard's body, and stopped near his neck. Mantis then struck a pressure point in his neck, a fatal one at that.

The guard then felt his heart stop as he then grasped his chest and started grunting, before he fell to the ground. The other guards then turned towards the fallen guard and huddled around him.

"What's going on?" One guard said in a gruff voice.

"Alert the others!" Another guard said.

Then, before any of them could move, everyone except Crane and Shifu pounced and started to attack the guards. Po got a quick start with one guard as he pounded the guard's face the ground and lit his hand on fire, burning the guard's face and silencing him at the same time. One guard tried to smash Lianne with his mace and she then flipped jumped backwards as the heavy weapon smashed loudly on the floor, Lianne then quickly unsheathed her sword as the guard was raising his weapon and moved in and sliced his neck before he could attack. Monkey was busy with two guards as they gave a devilish grin at him, Monkey smiled as he figured out the situation and bounced on his tail towards the two guards and smashed their heads together and also punching them both in the jaw, which sended them to Viper, as she knocked them away with her tail like a baseball game.

The gate guards were finished but there was still the guard tower as mentioned in the invasion plan, everyone looked upwards as they saw the two large guard brick guard towers. The guard tower archers saw the guards defeated as one of the archers went to grab his alarming bullhorn when Crane loomed towards from behind him and snapped the archer's neck. The other archer was readying his bow when Shifu climbed up the tower from behind and jumped towards the archer, striking his pressure points with great speed, and the archers went down. Shifu gave the thumbs-up signal from one of the towers as Po then nodded and went with the next part of the plan. Crane then flew from the tower to the other side of the gate, and saw the bar lock on the door, as Shifu then jumped down as well and helped Crane push the lock aside, and opened the door for Po and the others. Shifu saw that Po had struck a ridiculous pose to copy the mantis style and shook his head as he rolled his eyes and whispered "Alright, all is well so far, but we must hurry, before midnight ends and the next day starts!"

Everyone nodded and started heading through the desolate town. As they were power walking through the town slowly, Lianne took a quick glance at one house and stopped in her tracks, as she stared at the medium sized cement house. Po turned around and saw that Lianne had stopped and went towards her and whispered "What are you doing? We gotta go!"

"This…was my house…" Lianne said weakly.

Po then looked at the house and the inside, the wooden dinner table was broken, the dishes and bowls shattered to pieces, and dried blood can be seen on the floor.

Po looked away and thought "…The attack on her family…"

The others stopped and saw Po and Lianne behind them, Viper slithered towards them and whispered "Po, Lianne, let's go!"

Po snapped out of it and nodded and took Lianne's hand and lead her away, Lianne then started to come back to reality and saw Po's hands holding hers, and she felt better for some reason.

Shifu suddenly stopped the group as he heard footsteps coming towards them, heavy footsteps that is.

As soon as Shifu's ears twitched, the group then started to hide in the abandoned houses, as Mantis hid in a broken pot, Monkey hide behind the roof, Viper and Crane hide in the shadows in one house, while Po, Lianne, and Shifu hide below the window in one house. The foot steps drew closer as Po then raised his head a bit over the window and saw the guards, there were two of them, both carrying lanterns tied on a stick in one hand, and a mace in the other.

Then the rhino started sniffing around, like he smelled the group, Po then quickly ducked his head under and held his mouth from speaking.

"Aren't they supposed to be at Chor Gom prison?" Po thought.

Po then tried to raise his head again but then a loud cracking noise occurred, as Po then lowered his head again with a grimace. Po looked around and saw his between two pieces of a used to be full china plate.

"Aww man!" Po thought.

Shifu then glared at Po as he tried to reframe himself from punching Po. The guard was suspicious now as he then headed towards the house Po and Shifu were in. Po then moved his leg slowly away from the plate and prepared to fight. Shifu then restrained Po's hand and shook his head, then Po remembered the invasion plan.

"_We can't risk the guards alarming the others once we're discovered, so we can't fight them once we're inside, we'll just have to go with stealth." Shifu said._

The guard then went in the door, and looked near the window, and saw nothing, Po, Lianne, and Shifu had already changed their position to inside a big dress closet. Lianne and Shifu were cramped in as Po was between them with his large belly. The guard then saw the broken plate and scoffed, as it was a waste of his time, then Po's belly was starting to squish Shifu as he pushed Po as gently as he could, unfortunately it shook the whole closet, alarming the guard once again, as he turned around at the squeaking and shaking closet. He then called the other guard inside and they both approached the closet, with mace in hand, ready to smash the intruders in. One guard then slowly opened the closet door as Po then finally popped out of the cramped space like a jack in the box, taking the two guards down with him. Shifu and Lianne then panted as they could finally stand in open space again and breathe it's air. Po then stood up and saw the two guards, as he then turned to Shifu and understood. In a mere couple of seconds, the two guards were paralyzed in every pressure point, as they struggled to get up, but it was futile. Po and Lianne helped grab the guards and stuff them into the closet, as they were both too big to have any "elbow space".

"See how you like it!" Po said as he closed the closet door.

Po then turned around, only to see Shifu's displeasured glare. "Like I said, we can't risk fighting them, so I'd expect you to have some courtesy to the phrase 'stealthy', and furthermore…"

Po then nodded reluctantly as he lowered his brow out of boredom and ignored Shifu's words; he'd heard this sort of lecture tons of times before at the Jade Palace.

"…especially from that cookie incident at the Jade Palace." Shifu finished

Po then rolled his eyes and whispered "I was getting a late night snack!"

Shifu then lowered a brow in distrust and said "Well next time when you're getting a snack, be more careful, maybe then we wouldn't have to call in three men just to clean up that god forsaken mess!"

Po then cracked a smile; he missed this kind of stuff back at the Jade Palace, especially Tigress…

"Tigress…I won't break my promise" Po thought as he headed outside the house, and saw the others leap out from their hiding locations…but all except Crane and Viper. Po then went to the house he remembered they went in and saw the two hugging each other near the corner, as Viper snuggled against Crane. Shifu loomed from behind Po and cleared his throat. Viper and Crane then got away from each other and straightened themselves as Shifu gave another one of his famous glares.

Shifu then said nothing and left the room, Crane and Viper saw this but they knew they were going to pay for it later.

"If you wanted to be alone, just say so!" Po said jokingly with a smile as he headed out with Crane and Viper, both of them embarrassed.

The group was now coming ever so closer to a big mansion, as they arrived at the clear open area of before the gate of the mansion.

"This must be where Tigress is" Po said

Shifu then looked around in suspicion and said "Something's not right, there should've been guards here, students, don't let down your…"

Shifu was then interrupted when large groups of crossbow wielding gooses then appeared from behind them, gooses were supposed to be peaceful people who didn't fight, but these gooses said otherwise, their eyes were rugged, showing their experience with the crossbows. Then, a lioness girl appeared from behind the gooses and stood in front of them.

The group saw that the woman was young, she looked like a teenager, she wore a pink Chinese dress with some bracelets at her wrists, and she was holding a weapon, a falchion sword, but she was holding it with both hands against her body like a teddy bear.

"Naughty, Naughty! No guests allowed in the mansion!" The girl said

The group had no choice but to reframe from fighting, it could cause a lot of noise, and it could alert Jing Fei.

"So you were expecting us' Shifu said calmly.

"Yeah, a little birdie told us about your plan" The girl said as she swung around in place.

Lianne's eyes widened and said "You mean, our spy told you—"

The girl giggled and said "Yeah! He was nice enough to tell us; of course we had to punish him first before he finally tattled on you…"

"You what!?" Lianne said with a glare, grasping her sword's handle.

The girl then stood still and said "Tell you what, let's play a game!"

"Game?" Po said

"Yeah! I love playing games! In this game, if you beat me, you get to go inside!" The girl said with a smile.

Po then laughed in his mind "Are you kidding? She's like a kid, fighting her would be a piece of cake."

"Who are you?" Monkey asked finally.

"Oh yeah! I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Lily, and I'm one of the Seraphic Angels" Lily said with a giggle.

Po's inner laughter then turned into hell fire as he heard that.

"She's one of Lao's old apprentices?" Po thought.

"But…you're a kid" Mantis said before he jumped onto Monkey's shoulder.

The girl then stomped her feet and said "Heyyyyy, that's mean! I'm not a kid, I'm about as old as you guys."

"Whaaaa?" Po said

"Then why are yo—"Po was about to ask when Shifu interrupted.

"Fine, we'll play your game." Shifu said.

The girl then smiled and said "You will?! Yay! I've been so bored lately!"

Po then gave a confused look at Shifu as well as everyone joined Po.

Shifu sighed and said "The only way we can go on without alarm is to beat this girl, if she really is a warrior, she'll bide by her promise."

Shifu then turned towards Lily who was now dancing happily and said "Only if you promise not to alarm the others about us."

Lily then stopped dancing and said "Oh you don't have to worry about that, Master Jing already knows about your plan"

Shifu was shocked to find this out and said "Then—"

"Yeah, he says he 'welcomes your effort' or something like that" Lily said

Shifu then pondered about his decision "Maybe we should—" He thought before he was interrupted.

"If you beat me, you can go on, but if you lose then you'll be puuuuunished!" Lily said with a mischievous smile.

Shifu and the others were at a conflict, there were two logical options.

"Then we'll just have to escape" Po whispered to Shifu.

"If you don't play with me, these guys will punish you anyways, so basically you have to play either way!" Lily said while pointing to the crossbow men.

"Since I challenged you, I get to pick who I fight!" Lily said with a giggle.

The group then prepared themselves; she could pick anybody, so they had to be prepared.

Lily was picking the person with her finger by a game of eenie-meenie-miny-moe.

"--and I piiiiiiiick YOU!" Lianne yelled before her hand pointed towards Monkey.

Monkey was surprised by this, he wasn't even next in line in the eenie-meenie game, she just ran her hand towards **him.**

Lily blushed and said "Yeah, you're sort of cute; it's too bad we have to fight thought, but it is our master's orders."

Monkey then was blushing too as Po tried to reframe from giving a remark at this. Monkey then approached the girl and stood in front of her.

"Let's fight somewhere else, with more space." Monkey said.

"Okay then! Let's go to the open area" Lily said as she headed away from the door to the clear area before it, still holding her sword like a teddy bear.

Po and the others followed as Crane said "You sure you can handle this?"

Monkey nodded confidently and said "If any luck Jing Fei will ground her for losing"

Everyone chuckled as Monkey said that, and they stopped in the clear area, and Lily was standing in the middle.

"By the way, you all can't help him; if you do you'll lose ok?" Lily said as she unsheathed her weapon, a medium sized Falchion sword with illustrations of lily petals on the handle.

Monkey was shocked as the girl held it up with one hand towards the sky.

"She has the strength to do that?...Then I'd best prepare."

"Like it? giggle Master Jing had this made for me, I love it!" Lily said.

"Not something every normal girl would want is it?" Monkey said as he got into battle position

Lily giggled and said "Well then I guess I'm not a normal girl"

Lily then got into stance as she held her weapon and prepared.

The others watched from the sidelines as the groupd of crossbow men still had their bows on them in case they helped.

"Master, is this alright?" Viper said

Shifu chuckled and said "It's been a while since Monkey's had a worthy foe, I'm sure he can handle this."

"Here I come!" Lily said before she charged at Monkey, blade in hand.

**To be continued…**

**Yeah, I know, it's been a while since I updated, but it's been hard to think of new foes and stuff so please bear with me, and I love your reviews, guys! Well I hope you like this first fight, and I know a lot of you hate cliff hangers, but even I get tired and writers block, so R&R!**


	14. Chapter 14: Precious Memories

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 14: Precious Memories

Monkey then flipped jumped backwards as he felt Lily's blade grazed his chest. Lily then continued with thrusts towards Monkey's ribs, as Monkey dodged them with quick speed.

"I can't believe she's attacking this fast, what is this girl?" Monkey thought as he grappled the blade before it reached his face and jumped over Lily, landing on his tail.

The others watched as the two then continued their struggle, Po felt bad for not being able to help, but at the same time he felt happy that he got to see one of the Furious Five in action.

Shifu had pondered over this fight for some time now, as he thought "One look at this girl's body structure, I knew she was a quick attacker, and since Monkey is our quickest warrior, this should be an interesting fight.

Monkey then saw an opening and grabbed Lily's tail, and spun her around until she stabbed her sword into the ground, stopping Monkey as she looked over to him.

"Cute and strong, I was right to pick you giggle" Lily said.

Lily then tried to make a quick slash at Monkey, as Monkey then let go of her tail and jump back, he then saw that a slight cut mark was on his left shoulder.

Lily regained her stance and frowned as she said "It's too bad I have to fight you though"

Monkey then felt a blush on his cheek as she said that, but he shook his head and regained battle stance. Monkey then leaped as Lily did as well and once again made the first strike as Monkey pushed the blade away quickly and made a strike for her right arm, as she then fell down but flipped over and landed gracefully. As Monkey landed he had one question in mind this whole fight.

"Who did you learn these techniques from?" Monkey asked

Lily then frowned as she said "You should know, didn't you already meet him?"

Po's eyes widened as he remembered, "She used to be Lao's adoptive daughters who trained under him"

Monkey now understood and got into stance and said "Then why did you cross him?"

Lily got into stance, as she pushed away the sadness she remembered during that day back then and smiled as she said "No more talking! Let's have fun!"

Monkey then got prepared himself, as he glanced over at the others, all looking at the two fighters strangely.

"They must be thinking of the same question I have for her" Monkey said as he then realized Lily was already about a foot close to him, as she then pushed her sharpened blade towards Monkey, as blood flew in the air, the group were surprised, Po then yelled "MONKEY!"

As the blood landed to the ground, the group saw that Monkey had jumped far back away from Lily, and he was clutching his right hip, as blood leaked from the cut.

"She was that fast? Only a master of swords work can move quickly like that…I see the training of both Lao and Jing Fei has made them far than just formidable."

Lily then swung her blade to the other side, flinging away the blood on her blade to the ground.

"You shouldn't really underestimate me, I'm really fast you know" Lily said as she readied her blade.

Monkey then stood with one hand still holding his injured hip as he held the pain in, struggling to now show weakness his foe.

"That was…urgh…impressive" Monkey said, still struggling to hold the pain in.

Lily looked at Monkey in curiosity as she said "You know you're holding up pretty well for someone who just got a big cut."

Monkey laughed lightly and said "Well they don't call me the master of the monkey style for nothing you know"

"Let's see you prove it then" Lily said as she charged.

Monkey then gave one last pant as he then let go of the wound and readied for Lily. She made a quick low strike as Monkey bended back to dodge it, as he then regained balance he felt a sharp pain in his hip as he blocked Lily's blade before it reached his chest and brought it near his side, while holding her other hand with his free arm, they were now in a lock.

As Monkey struggled to keep Lily occupied, he got an idea and said "Hey grunt what do I have to do to get another prize in this game of yours?"

Lily then smiled and said "Welllll… OOH! I know! How about this, if you can kiss me and beat me at the same time, then you get to name your other prize"

Monkey then frowned but blushed at the same time and said "Wow, isn't that kind of grunt drastic?

Lily giggled and said "Well it's my game after all"

Lily then tried to do a sweep kick but Monkey released her and flip jumped back to dodge her quick slash.

Monkey panted as kneeled and clutched his wound again; it was bleeding more than last time now. "I have to finish this quickly…" He thought.

Monkey then stood and said "Alright…fine, I'll take the challenge."

The others hung their mouths open as Monkey said that, Shifu's eyes twitched as he thought "What is he…"

Monkey then gave a confident smile as he readied himself and looked directly at Lily. Lily then smiled back as she blushed a little but frowned a little.

"Why did I choose him? I don't want to…" Lily thought in her head as Monkey charged.

Monkey decided to try a karate chop first as Lily blocked it with her free arm and swiped at Monkey's feet while Monkey jumped up landed on her sword, as he then quickly punched her face, sending her sliding back.

Lily then regained herself and charged again, this time with quick speed as she then dashed towards him and slashed two times at him, as a bit of fur was lost with each slash as Monkey dodged them.

Lily then delivered a flurry of quick thrusts as Monkey dodged with great speed, their quickness was like a blur to the group, Lily then stopped suddenly and did a surprise horizontal slash, as Monkey flipped over and stood on his hands, and grabbed the sword with his feet, Monkey smiled as he then swung his feet over himself, flinging Lily over as well. Lily then landed safely as Monkey then regained himself and got into stance.

"YAHHH!" Lily yelled as she then spun her sword in the air and dashed at Monkey as and swung the spinning blade at Monkey, and as he dodged he was cut at the left cheek, leaving a small but noticeable scar. Lily then slowed down a bit with the spinning, Monkey then saw this chance and grabbed Lily's sword at the handle, meeting her hand with his as he then pulled her towards him and pressed his lips against his.

"WHAT THE…!?" Po said

Shifu and the others gasped as they saw Monkey had kissed Lily for some time, Lily simply closed her eyes as Monkey then broke the kiss and disarmed her of her weapon while she was distracted, and jumped kick her all the way to the wall. Lily then landed on the floor, quickly returning to reality as she saw that Monkey was already in front of her, and holding her sword against her throat.

"I'm sorry, but it is your game's rule" Monkey said with a blush.

Lily then blushed and smiled as she said "Alright, I guess you win, oh man! I should've picked someone else!"

Monkey smiled as he helped her up, sheathing her blade for her as she stood. Blood then started to spill from Monkey's mouth as he kneeled to the floor, clutching his hip wound that was bleeding very much now.

"Monkey!" Shifu yelled as he ran to him as well as the others.

Lily helped Monkey lie down as Shifu then took a roll of bandage fron the inside of his robe.

Po stared at him in confusion as Shifu replied "I always come prepared"

Po then returned his attention to Monkey, he was hurt bad, and if the fight went on any longer he surely would've died.

"Ummm…You okay?" Po asked while looking at the wound and its size.

Monkey then lifted his head towards Po and said "Well gee Po, do I look ok?"

Po then was feeling worse inside as he stared at those wounds and said "Well…just hang on, I…I don't want to lose another person close to me."

Monkey then realized how Po's feeling right now and said "I'll be alright Po, don't worry."

Viper approached Po and said "Don't worry Po, we'll get her back"

Po then released a small smile as he remembered once again the memories he shared with her.

_Po and Tigress were sent to get groceries for the Jade Palace to last another week or two, and they were passing through the food stands._

_Po was examining the beef meat in front of him as Tigress rolled her eyes and said "Will you just choose one!?"_

_Po then turned to her and said "Be patient, making good noodles also means good ingredients, and besides, it's not even close to dinner time yet, we still have time."_

_Tigress then looked at the meat with Po and said "Honestly, it does not take this long just to buy stuff for noodles"_

"_Who said anything about noodles?" Po said as he finally found the meat he wanted and handed the money to the food stall man and placed the meat in the bamboo basket Tigress was carrying._

_Tigress raised an eyebrow as she heard this; Po __**always**__ made noodles for dinner. "You're not going to cook noodles anymore?"_

"_Well I'll still make them, just today I want to try something different, like that beef and vegetable rice bowl that most of the towns people eat." Po said as he walked over to the vegetable stand._

_Tigress sighed as Po took a look and saw a clean and fresh piece of celery and cabbage and grabbed them and said "Yes! Sweet, these will be perfect!"_

_Tigress looked around and tapped Po's shoulder and said "We better hurry, people are starting to stare"_

_Po looked behind him and saw that Tigress was right, most of the people were whispering to each other and staring at them._

_A pig woman approached Tigress and said "Ah Master Tigress, it is an honor to see you here" the woman then bowed in respect._

_Tigress then said "No need for formalities, I am just here for an errand."_

_The woman looked beside Tigress and saw Po, putting the vegetables in the basket, the woman then smiled and said "Ah, I see, so you are here to shop for groceries with your boyfriend."_

_Tigress then blushed and shook her head and said "No! It's nothing like that, we are just fellow kung fu masters "_

_Po did the same as he blushed as well and said "Yeah, it's nothing intimate or—"_

_The pig woman smiled more and said "Oh don't worry, it's fine, even kung fu masters find can find love in their life right? Well, I must be going now, good bye!"_

_Tigress looked the other way as Po grazed his arm, both of them blushing as they were near each other. Po had loved Tigress, but he never expected someone would actually think they would be together._

"_W-Well, it was just a misunderstanding right?" Tigress said_

"_O-Oh yeah, totally! Us together? Impossible right?" Po said_

"_Y-Y-Yeah, absolutely" Tigress said_

_Po felt terrible inside when he said that, he's been feeling horrible every time he realized they may never be together. _

_Po then headed to the rice stand and said "One bag of rice, please"_

_The stall man then grabbed a hefty bag of rice and placed it on the stall table and said "Here you go"_

"_Thanks" Po said as he handed the man the money._

_Po then tapped his fingers on the rice bag and said "Sooo…ummm…Tigress, what do you look for in a guy?"_

_Tigress was shocked by the question and asked "Why do you want to know?"_

"_W-Well, you know, I haven't really got to know you yet and so I just wanted to know, that's all" Po said nervously._

_Tigress then sighed and said "Well, he'd have to be skilled in martial arts and be intelligent…"_

_Po was a bit under confident about those conditions but listened as she continued._

"_And be strong…" Tigress said_

_Po then sucked in his gut to make his chest bigger, but it just resulted in the belly bouncing back down._

_Tigress then finished "And oh yeah, he'd have to be a kind man"_

_Po then smiled and said "Wow, you really have a unique taste for men"_

_Tigress scoffed and said "What about you?"_

_Po then grabbed the rice bag quickly and said "HEY! It's getting late, let's go back."_

_Tigress then cracked a small smile and headed towards the Jade Palace with Po. As they walked she said "If you fall down the stairs again, I'm only coming back for the rice bag."_

"_Ha Ha, very funny" Po said as Tigress smiled again._

Po smiled as well as he finished remembering when Shifu finished bandaging Monkey and stood.

Shifu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said "He'll be fine, but he needs to rest, any further actions could reopen his wounds"

Monkey lifted his head and said "But, I want to go…argh…on with everyone"

Viper helped Monkey's head down and said "Don't try to move, rest up for now"

Monkey had nothing to say, as Lily looked upon him with worry, as Monkey said "About my other reward…"

Lily then said "Oh…right, what do you want?

"Tell me and my friends why you crossed your father Lao" Monkey said plainly.

Lily then looked away sadly, as she closed her eyes and sighed, and said "Fine, you won so, I'll tell you."

Everyone listened as Lily told her story.

"…Back in our home town, everything was peaceful, until our mayor died, leaving taking the peaceful era with him, as his corrupted son took the seat as mayor."

Monkey listened, as he turned his head towards Lily, and saw small tears dropping down on her face.

Lily wiped her eyes and said "Ever since then, all the new mayor cared about was getting money, and not for the town, but for himself…he was a spoiled brat, but no one dared to rebel against him because of the rhino guards he hired"

Po then asked "Rhinos? You guys have the same type of guards don't you?"

Lily nodded and said "Chor Gom prison offers their men for hire for a hefty price, but they are good for keeping intruders out."

Mantis scoffed and smiled as he said "Not really"

Po laughed and said "Yeah, we totally kicked their—"

Shifu glared at him again as Po said "Sorry, go on"

"The rhino guards pretty much ruled the town, they took things without a single word and said they mayor let them, and they were right, the brat mayor didn't care for the town, as long as he got his money." Lily clenched her fist as she then continued "Soon my parents would fight about leaving, my dad would want to leave, while my mother wanted to stay, in her home town."

Lily then started to cry again as she said "The fight worried us all, that our family would tear me and my sisters apart, and then, a few days later, our worst fear happened."

Monkey frowned as he knew what she was going to say next.

"My parents then resorted to violence, when we found our mother's body, she was brutally hit on the head, and it traumatized us for life" Lily said as she held back her tears.

Po looked away as he felt sorry, listening to these types of stories always made him feel worse, he didn't like bad news, even though all his life he's been getting them.

Lily sniffled and wiped her tears again as she continued "After that, our father was no where to be seen, he had fled, and so…we did the same, we loved our mother very much, so we buried her before we left, but as we left, the sadness in our hearts never went away…and then, as we were about to starve to death, we ended up in front of a big dojo near the Ancient's Highlands, and that's where Lao found us."

Monkey raised his head again and asked "He treated you guys like his daughter, and taught you to be strong, how could you leave him?"

Lily grazed the sleeve of her suit and said "It's not like I hated him! It's just…both of my sisters agreed it was the right thing to do, and Jing told us we could help build a better world, where everything would be peaceful again…"

Shifu walked towards her and said "No matter what you do, the world is not suppose to change for one or a group of people, it is what it is, you must face reality."

"Easy for you to say! You never lost someone you treasure most!" Lily said.

Shifu's eyes widened as he frowned and looked downward as he said "Actually…I do"

Lily's then looked at Shifu and was silent, wanting to take back what she said. "But regardless, I have moved on, for my new students, and because they need me as I need them"

Po and the four smiled as Shifu said that, Lily regained herself as Shifu said "You just need someone to give you a meaning to live"

Po nodded as he knew what Shifu meant, Tigress was everything to him, and he couldn't let that go.

Lily smiled as she then said "Thank you…and, you can go forward now."

Shifu nodded as he leaded the group towards the door, running as they knew they were almost out of time. Po looked towards the sky and saw that the darkness was slowly fading.

"No! We're losing time, god I hope she hangs on!"

**Meanwhile at Tigress cell room…**

Tigress was finishing one of her flurry of combo strikes as she then flipped over and did a swipe kick, as she then stood and panted heavily.

"There's not much room to train in, but it'll have to do" Tigress thought.

She then heard foot steps coming as she then sat down, acting helpless as always when Jing came to check up on her.

The door opened and Jing was there, Tigress clenched her teeth, as she was sick of seeing his face.

"So, how are you feeling, scared?" Jing said as he held his spear.

Tigress only gave a cold glare, as she said "No, only when I see your face."

"Ohh, feisty are we? Well, I just came to deliver good news…for you of course." Jing said

Tigress kept her guard up as Jing then slowly approached near her.

"A group of intruders has infiltrated the fortress, I suppose you know them?" Jing said

Tigress's eyes widened as she thought "I-It can't be—"

Jing read her face and said "Yes, they are indeed your once fallen comrades."

Tigress then felt a breath of relief as she thought "So they survived, thank god…"

Jing then approached near the door and said "I just received word they defeated one of my best warriors, persistent aren't they?"

"Ugly aren't you?" Tigress said calmly.

Jing only chuckled and said "Oh maiden, you act so aggressive, and yet stay so calm, it's remarkable really"

Jing then headed out the door and said "Don't get too confident on your comrades though, they'll be quite surprised when they see my next two warriors, I'd bet they just be** dying** to meet them."

Tigress's eyes widened as she headed for the door but the guards quickly closed it, locking her in again as Tigress pounded the door with her fists, only to have failed again. She sat on the floor and thought "Po…please, be careful…"

**Back at the mansion entrance…**

Lily had followed the group as she carried Monkey and set him to lie on the wall near the entrance as he was still resting.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him" Lily said

Shifu looked at her out of doubt and said "Are you sure?"

"Look, he defeated me, if I killed an injured warrior, I wouldn't have a warrior's honor" Lily said

"What honor? You assisted I wiping out almost half the people of this Highland" Shifu said sternly.

Lily then looked down out of guilt as Shifu then looked away and said " I will trust you to take care of him, but if you lay even the slightest tip of your sword on him, I won't show mercy."

"Shifu…it's ok, go on, I'll catch up later." Monkey said as he laid against the wall.

Shifu nodded and then opened the entrance as the others followed him inside.

Lily still had a look of guilt and sadness as Monkey then tapped her shoulder as she sat near him and said "Hey…what's with the sad face?"

"What your master said was true…I have no honor" Lily said

Monkey looked at her as she started to frown more and said "I helped in the invasion, but I didn't kill anyone, I just scared them out, but that didn't change the fact that I helped in almost wiping out a town."

The cross bow archers once again approached Monkey as Lily then ordered them to back off and went elsewhere.

Lily smiled and said "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you"

Monkey laughed as she then said "What's so funny?"

Monkey smiled and said "You do have honor, you're helping an injured warrior, the enemy at that, and you stuck with the warrior's code and not harm me, even when you have the chance."

Lily smiled and looked at Monkey with happiness as she then said "Well, I'm feeling kinda cold tonight, and I don't have my teddy bear so I guess you'll have to do!"

Lily then quickly hugged Monkey as Monkey almost jumped up in surprise, as she snuggled him as Monkey then held her in his arms. Monkey cracked a smile as they both held each other, Monkey had forgotten all about his injuries.

The crossbow archers watched from the roof tops and one of them said "What is Mistress Lily doing?"

"Maybe…seducing the enemy?" Another archer said

"Yeah, that's gotta be it" The first archer said.

**Inside the mansion…**

The group looked around as they saw a straight path ahead, and as they reached the end they found a large sliding door, and a lever beside it, Shifu opened the door as the others quickly got into position, but there was nothing inside.

"This must be a lift" Crane said

"Let's go" Viper said as she slithered onto the lift

Everyone went into the lift as Po walked inside, almost taking up the entire space as Lianne crawled from behind him and to a clearer area in front of Po.

Shifu then flipped the switch and jumped on before the elevator took off, and closed the door, as the lift went up towards the mansion.

Shifu was crammed between Po and Lianne as Lianne said "Well isn't this déjà vu?"

To be continued…

Yes yes, I know I'm sort of slow at updating but I have to take breaks, and that includes food and sleep and video games, but I will try to be faster in the future. For those of you who already figured it out, yes I am making MonkeyxOC, beautiful isnt't it, well, R&R!


	15. Chapter 15: Precious Gems

Budding Emotions

Chapter 15: Shining Gems

Po stood there, with no motion as the other six did. Their minds fixed on the mission at hand, and what would become if they failed, but Po's worries were the most largest, he had promised to protect her, but he failed, and he didn't know what he would do if he came back to the palace without Tigress.

"Are you alright, Po?" Lianne asked as she looked in wonder of his troubled face.

"Huh? O-Oh, yeah, everything's alright" Po said

But Po was lying, he knew it himself, everything was not alright, the sun is rising and they were running out of time, but this wasn't the first time Po had felt helpless, the journey into the mind helped him realize that.

Shifu was sitting down in the center, meditating, trying to collect his thoughts and the group's tactics.

Po closed his eyes as he began to recall yet another memory about Tigress:

_Tigress sat on the roof of the tall Hall of Heroes, and looked at the stars, as they were shining so brightly that night. The stars showed many alignments, showing shapes and figures different to the minds of each figure._

_Po was walking from the kitchen back to his room, when saw that a figure was sitting on the roof of the Hall of Heroes, He approached closer and saw that it was Tigress, her eyes were shining in the dark, as brilliant as they always were._

"_Wow, I never knew Tigress stays up at night." Po thought_

_Po smiled as he headed towards the Hall of Heroes and looked up at the tall climb that he'll have to endure to get to Tigress. Po took a deep breath and shook his head. "You can do this, you're the Dragon Warrior!" He thought as he imagined a hot steaming bowl of meat buns on the roof, and that was enough for him to climb that far._

_Tigress stared in wonders at the stars, marvelous as they were, but so far away. A few minutes later she heard creaking noises from behind her, Tigress turned around and saw a familiar hand reaching for the ledge of the roof. Tigress looked down below and saw that it was Po, with the same goofy expression as always._

"_Tigress! Oh, Um, I couldn't sleep so I'd thought I, umm, a little help?" Po stuttered_

_Tigress then helped Po up as Po sat down beside her on the roof, panting after the climb._

"_I'm surprised you could get up here so quickly, but then again I was also surprised when you defeated Tai Lung" Tigress said_

_Po laughed lightly and said "Yeah, everybody's still talking about it, I even get free food now and then!"_

_Tigress cracked a tiny smile and said "Well…you deserve it, Po"_

_Po had a confused look on his face as Tigress looked up at the stars and said "We've underestimated your abilities for so long, we were ungrateful to you, and it's only fitting if the villagers are generous and thankful to you now"_

_Po looked up at the sky and said "Well…I didn't come here to get gratitude, for the most part anyways."_

_Tigress looked at Po as he said "I came here because I wanted to be well…not me."_

_Tigress stared at Po in confusion as he explained "I thought that maybe Shifu could help me be…well, not me."_

_Tigress then understood as she returned to looking at the sky. Po looked at the stars and said "Wow…they're really bright tonight"_

"_Yes, so is the moon" Tigress said_

_Po looked over the stars and saw the full moon in the horizon, shining as Tigress said._

"_Do you do this often?" Po asked_

"_What?" Tigress said_

"_You know, look at the stars" Po explained_

"_Oh… sometimes, when they're bright." Tigress answered_

"_My parents used to take me out to see the stars all the time" Tigress said_

_Po hung his head in surprise, Tigress had never opened up to anyone about her family before._

"_So…what were your parents like?" Po said_

_Tigress stopped looking at the stars and hung her head as she said "I can't even remember…but I know that they used to take me star gazing all the time"_

_Po nodded and frowned as he said "I don't know about my parents either"_

_Tigress looked over to Po in surprise, Po then looked to the village below and said "Mr. Ping has been very nice to me, you know? And I don't want him to think that I'd rather be with my real parents than with him"_

_Tigress sighed and said "Well, you should ask him anyways, Po"_

_Po looked at Tigress as she said "Even if you don't want to go see your real parents or maybe you're afraid you might hurt Mr. Ping, it's better to know, Po"_

_Po hung his head again as he pondered over what Tigress said._

"_At least you have a chance to know your parents, Po, and you should take that chance while you still have it." Tigress said as she looked at Po._

_Po looked at Tigress's eyes, and they were shining fluorescently in the night, like rare golden and red gems._

_Po stared into her eyes as he blurted out "Wow, they're really pretty'_

"_What?" Tigress asked_

_Po then snapped out of it and said "Oh! Um, I meant the stars! Yeah! They're really pretty tonight."_

_They didn't know it, but Po and Tigress had shared their problems with each other, and bonded in a way, they also didn't know that they were so close together they barely had elbow space._

_Po's hand crept over to Tigress's hand, Tigress had noticed but she comfortably held his hand, and they both looked into each other's eyes, Tigress saw that Po's jade green eyes were shining in the night too. Their lips inching closer together with each second, but as they were about to kiss, Tigress snapped out of it and stood and said "It's getting very late! I must go to my room"_

_Po looked surprised and said "Oh, umm, ok, I'll go back later, I'm going to stay up here for a while."_

_Tigress then jumped down and landed safely on the pavement as she was blushing ever so, "What…what just happened?"_

_Po dropped his head in his hands as he thought "Man! So close!"_

Po then opened his eyes smiling as he pondered over that night, he had shared many nights like that with Tigress, and he wasn't about to let that stop.

The elevator then came to a stop, Po got into stance as they slowly walked outside into what seemed like a large study of some kind, ancient looking books lied on the book shelves on the west wall, and a burning fire place on the east wall, and in between of them, was a girl wearing a red armor and red leggings, and she was slightly more taller than Lily, she was tapping her foot in an impatient manner.

"Well it's about damn time you showed" The girl said as she stopped her tapping and stared at the group.

Po lowered his stance and asked "Are you one of the Seraphic Angels?"

"No duh, tubby, why else would I be the only one here?" The girl snapped at Po.

Po neglected that insult and said "Tell us where Tigress is!"

The girl then smirked and said "Afraid I can't do that, panda, I've got a job to do, and I'll see it through"

The girl then grazed her hand over the sheaths she had attached to her belt. The group all got into stance when the girl took out her metal tonfas from the sheaths and approached the group.

"The name's Marin, you won't forget it anytime soon, I'll make sure of that" Marin said as she stood in front of the group.

"You know the deal, I challenge you, so I get to pick who I fight" Marin said

Marin then examined the group, looking for her opponent. Marin then gave a stern look at Shifu.

"Alright gramps, which one of these guys is the Dragon Warrior?" Marin asked

Shifu then pointed to Po and said "That would be him"

Marin looked over to Po and started laughing, she then said "You-You're kidding right? Chubby here is the one?" Marin then continued laughing over the concept.

Po lowered his brow and said "Look, if you want to fight then let's get it over with"

Marin stopped laughing and said "Why the rush? The girl's your girlfriend or something?"

Po stepped towards Marin and said "WE'RE--JUST--FRIENDS"

Marin chuckled lightly and said "Whatever you say"

Marin then flip jumped backwards and landed top of a bookshelf and said "Let's dance, tubby!"

Po then gritted his teeth and charged towards the book shelf as Marin then jumped off and landed behind Po and assumed a stance.

"Too fast for you?" Marin said with a smile.

Po then started attacking Marin with several strikes but she deflected them with her tonfas tried to headbutt Po but he moved his head out of the way in time. Marin then used her tonfas and began to hit Po as Po blocked them with his metal armbands, which couldn't have come to help at a better time.

"ARGHHHRAHHH!" Marin yelled as she jumped up and slammed down her two tonfas down on Po, as Po used both his armbands to block the hit, but the impact made a small crater on the floor, and could've easily done so to Po's body if he hadn't blocked that strike.

Marin smirked and said "Not bad, panda! You could even beginning to be some sort of threat!"

"I've already STARTED!" Po said as he used his belly and bounced Marin all the way to the other bookshelf. Marin then flipped over and landed horizontally on the bookshelf and stabbed one of her tonfas into the books, as it dragged and slowed down her fall, the ripped pages flying around Marin almost like snow. Marin then took out her tonfa and landed on the ground.

"Whoa, almost let my guard down for a moment" Marin said as she smirked again.

Po regained himself and noticed that something felt…different about Marin, like her aura was different, he actually felt someone's aura this time.

Marin then turned the handles on her tonfas and spikes appeared under them. Po's eyes widened as the energy felt stronger as Marin got into a stance and said "I'm getting tired of holding back"

Shifu felt a chill down his spine as he felt a dark chi coming from Marin. "It's strong enough to be sensed…this isn't good" Shifu thought

Shifu glanced at Po and saw his grim expression and thought "Po must feel it too…"

Marin then charged at Po with lightning speed as Po saw nothing, until he turned around and saw Marin, as Po turned around as fast as he can but it wasn't fast enough, Marin used her tonfa to pound Po in the back, and whack him all the way through the west wall.

Everyone's eyes widened as they yelled "PO!!"

Marin spitted on the ground and said "Not even a challenge, so much for dragon warrior"

Then, a flaming hand appeared from under the rubble of the wall, and Po emerged from the rubble, his hands lit with the Dragon Flame, and eyes of a warrior, with the small cuts on his shirt and body. His large stomach had actually lightened the impact on the wall as it did years ago.

Po then coughed out dust and turned off the flames as he wiped the dust off his fur. Marin rolled her eyes and said "You don't give up do you?"

Po smiled and lit his hands once again and said "I guess I'm tired of holding back too."

Marin smirked back as her dark chi was activated again, both Po's Dragon Flame chi and Marin's dark chi together made something of a collage of power energy, which would make a child fall to his knees.

"So that is the Dragon Flame, it contains such pure chi energy…" Shifu thought.

Po and Marin got into stance and yelled "LET'S GO!"

To be continued…

I'M BACK BABY! Yep, I'm back from my leave, and I hope some of my fans haven't thought that I quitted or that I abandoned this story, because that's not true, anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, and R&R, and I hope my reviewers from past chapters are still reading TT


	16. Chapter 17: Pure Chi&Dark Chi

Budding Emotions

Chapter 16: "Power"

Po took initiative as he made a quick flaming jab at Marin, Marin then blocked it with her tofas, but she still felt the sheer force and heat of the jab.

Marin smiled while blocking against Po's jab and said "Interesting, this is gonna be fun"

Po then used his other hand and punched her tonfas, sending Marin to slide back. Marin kept her balance as she prepared herself and leaped at Po, with tonfas in hands as if it were her fangs. Po then sucked up his gut and waited for the right time. Marin got ever so closer to Po as he smiled and said "Skidoosh!" As he let out his belly and bounced her crashing all the way through the book case.

Marin got up from the remains of the book case with blood dripping from her lips and said "Not bad, panda"

Marin then got into stance and said "Now it's my turn"

Then she dashed at Po with great speed as Po did the same, Marin then tried to swipe Po with her tonfas but he ducked and did a round house kick that tripped Marin but she then used one of her tonfas and balanced on it before she could fall. Marin then used her other tonfa and swiped at Po, Po then flipped his body backwards and felt the hot steel graze against his nose. Po then grabbed her arm and threw her over him while Po regained his balance and felt a jolt at his chest, which caused him to stumble a bit but not enough to fall.

"I'm almost out of energy, I've gotta finish this" Po thought

Crane twitched as he saw this, he was usually calm during these situations, but seeing Po stumble worried him, as well as the others.

Shifu grazed his small beard and thought "This isn't good, the Dragon's Flame might be powerful but it can destroy a warrior's strength if continued for too long, Po didn't even had that much time to master it…"

Po regained his balance and tried to sort things out, trying to find a new way to win other than seeing who lasts longer. Po stopped the flames on his hands and remembered back from the Ancients' Hideout, after he had gained the Dragon's Flame.

_Po and Shifu both sat down in front each other as Shifu began to speak._

"_Po, it is a good thing that you have learned the Dragon's Flame." Shifu said_

"_You bet it is! Now I can save Tigress, it's a piece of—" Po said_

"_But you shouldn't depend on it" Shifu interrupted._

"_Wha--?" Po said with the same goofy look._

_Shifu sighed and continued "Yes, the Dragon's Flame can be a great advantage, but it is also, a disadvantage."_

_Po then had a serious face as Shifu continued "In return for great power, the Dragon's Flame can diminish the user's strength with each moment he uses it, so using it sparingly would be wise"_

_Po frowned and said "But what about--"_

"_You are the Dragon Warrior, Po, the savior to all of China, that is also why we can't afford anything to go wrong when we save Tigress." Shifu said_

_Po hung his head and looked away, no matter how fast he wanted to save Tigress, Shifu was right, they have to prepare first._

"_Nothing in this world is without a price, Po…not even life, remember that" Shifu said_

Po's memory was interrupted when he saw a silver flash coming at him as he bended his head and dodged the flash, Po turned around and saw Marin landing near the fire place and smiling as she held her tonfas.

Then Po noticed that left cheek had a cut mark on it, Po then recalled the silver flash, "Did she—" Po thought.

Marin then held her tonfas out and spun in okace, creating a small tornado of silver and red, as it moved towards Po. Po's eyes widened as he jumped away from it, not sure how to approach her. Po activated the Dragon's Flame and tried to strike the tornado, only to have his hand smacked away, with a bruise on it. Po then kept distance as Marin spoke "AHAHAHAAHAHHA! What's the matter? Can't touch me?"

Po tried to swipe the tornado away, only to have his hands swatted away again and again, as the tornado got closer and smacked Po in the face, stomach, and shoulder, then the tornado pushed him into the wall, grinding away at his body as Po was pinned at the wall.

"ARGHHHAHHRGHHHHH!!" Po yelled as he felt excruciating pain

Marin laughed as Po shouted in pain, as the dark chi enveloped her body, turning the tornado to a vile purple color.

Shifu took a step forward, distressed at the situation, sweating buckets over the battle. "This can't be good, this a duel between warriors! If I interfere, then I would have no honor, but the Dragon Warrior will die! I have not choice…"

Shifu was about to take action when Lianne stood in front of him with a worried face.

"Lianne, I beg you, MOVE!" Shifu said

"Please listen Shifu, you have to trust in Po, he can make it" Lianne said

Shifu looked at her face and saw worry and doubt under her eyes, but he knew it would make Po feel worse either way if he helped or not, Shifu bit his lip and stood near Lianne. Lianne cracked a small smile and scratched Shifu behind the ears; Shifu then swatted her hand away and said "Stop that"

Po closed his eyes as the pain was starting to seep in, he might not make it, he knew he was going to die someday but, not this early.

"Ha….I guess this is it, I'm so useless…even with this power."

Po started to let his mind sleep when a figure appeared before him, it was Tigress.

"So you're giving up? That's so like you" Tigress said.

Po had a small smile and said "Well, I'll just be a burden to the group, I'm not strong enough anyways."

"Po? Come here" Tigress said while signaling with her finger towards Po.

Po smiled and approached her face when Tigress then gave him a big punch in the face and left Po stumbling to the ground.

"YOU IDIOT!" Tigress said.

Po rubbed his cheek and said "Huh?"

"You were never a burden, not at all, you contributed many things to me and the others. Without you we would've still eaten bland take out food" Tigress said

Po stood up as Tigress continued "Without you we'll just be another humorless group of martial artists"

Po began to smile as Tigress then said "Without you, I would've…if you weren't around I…"

Po then gave Tigress a hug, holding her for as long as he could before she continued "You're strong, Po, I believe in you…"

The Tigress figure then disintegrated and Po stood, and looked forward with stern and newly brave eyes. Po then woke up and saw the tornado still pinning him towards the crater that used to be part of the wall. Po then focused his eyes inside the tornado and waited for the right moment, and then when Marin seemed to slow down he stuck his hands in and grabbed her tonfas, stopping her tornado.

Marin tried to budge out of Po's grasp but couldn't, he seem stronger then before. Po then used the Dragon's Flame and concentrated his chi to his head and gave Marin a flaming head butt, which sent Marin flying while Po held her tonfas and squeezed them tight, melting them with the intense heat and force. Marin stood from the shattered book case, cursing under her breath and peered at Po with vicious eyes as Po threw the ruined tonfas over to the fire place.

"You…YOU CAN'T BEAT ME! You're…JUST A WEAK FAT PANDA!" Marin yelled, her eyes darkening with the corruption of the dark chi.

"Whoa, a little competitive don't you think?" Po said while scratching the back of his head.

Marin then roared loudly a sound that combines the sound of crying and screaming, but it didn't sound like it was born just of hate, but also of…sadness.

Po and the others blocked their ears from the scream, which tortured their ears and minds as it continued.

"What…What is this!?" Lianne asked as her body trembled from the sound.

Shifu held his balance with his best strength and said "The dark chi must have spread to her mind, and is corrupting and possessing her very soul!"

"Dark chi?" Viper asked, struggling to keep her head high.

"It is when the chi energy inside you is corrupted by a malevolent force, and fills your soul with the very same corrupt energy, arghh!" Shifu said as he almost fell to his knees.

Po struggled to keep his back straight as he felt as if the very gravity was pushing him down.

"Wow, you are SOME sore loser!" Po said sarcastically

Marin continued her screech as she grasped her head, as if in pain. Po took slow steps towards Marin, using the best of his remaining energy as he neared her, blocking his ears with his hands at the same time.

"HEY! STOP IT! YOU'RE GONNA BRING DOWN THE WHOLE BUILDING!" Po yelled.

The others were starting to lose their balance, as Po finally made it in front of Marin, and saw that her whole body was beginning to become corrupt, her head to stomach was now dark, and it was only spreading ever so quickly. Po tried to find a way to fix this, but couldn't.

"C'mon, c'mon! Think! Think!" Po thought.

Then Po's eyes widened as he remembered Shifu's words from back at the hideout.

"_Po, the Dragon's Flame is an ancient technique, and only the warriors of the pure souls can use it, for the fire of dragons are filled with pure chi, and can burn away at any dark entities."_

Po then examined Marin and realized her waist was now infected"Guess now's not the time to think!" Po thought.

Po then lit his hands with the Dragon's Flame and then placed both of his hands on Marin's head, as Po then closed his eyes, and concentrated his chi energy towards Marin.

The flames then expanded from Pos hands, and enveloping Marin's whole body. The force that affected the group was then gone, and the malevolent energy was seemed to shrink.

The flames that enveloped Marin then became a spiral and disappeared before everyone's eyes. Marin then fell out of her trance and dropped to the ground, Po then feel to his knees, exhausted from using almost of his chi to save Marin. Shifu and the others then approached Po and Marin.

"Are you alright?" Lianne asked

"Yeah...I'm fine." Po said.

Lianne then helped Po up, and then noticed Marin standing up, but she was slower this time, she was also exhausted from using her power. Lianne grasped her sword at the handle, in preparation if Marin was going to attack.

Marin grazed her arm, as her legs trembled in trying to get up. "You…What did you do?!"

"I saved you, that's what!" Po replied

"I, urghh…don't need help from someone like you" Marin said.

"But... I'm a little confused myself, how did I heal her?" Po asked.

Shifu put his hands behind his back and said "The Dragon's Flame can burn through any darkness, and purify it with it's pure chi, I believe you've heard this from me, and the spirit of the scroll"

Marin grunted as she tried to lift her arms but couldn't they were only trembling now.

"I've been meaning to ask, what do you have against me anyways?" Po asked.

"You men are all the same…always using and manipulating things and people, just to get what you want, my father was no different!" Marin said, as she dropped to her knees, glaring at Po.

There was an awkward silence until Lianne spoke "Not all men are like that"

Marin then turned her gaze towards Lianne and said "What?"

"Just because you met one horrible person like your father, it doesn't mean everyone is like him." Lianne said.

Marin then looked away with a look of disgust and said "Tch… you don't even know what it's like to have a father who'd go as far as kill his own wife, MY mother! You don't know how it feels to lose someone precious to you! To know a horrible person such as my father!"

Lianne then frowned and said "Actually…I do."

Marin's eyes then widened and looked at Lianne again.

"When I was young, my father used to keep me from doing things I want all the time, and after a while, I began to hate him, even resent him." Lianne said

Lianne then smiled and said "Yes, I was foolish back then, I thought he was a horrible man, mostly because my parents fought all the time, but…they always resolve it in the end, because they truly loved each other. I even eavesdropped on my parents and found out that my father would always feel horrible when he rejected me from doing what I want."

Lianne then lost her smile and said "Soon, I tried my best to be more tolerant and kind to my father, and…our family was happy. But… then my family was killed…by Jing."

Marin then frowned and looked away as Lianne then continued "So…I do know what it's like, so don't think every man is the same as your father."

Marin hung her head, as Po looked over to Lianne and said "Lianne…"

Lianne shook her head and said "No, it's alright, I'm okay, besides, we don't have much time, let's go."

Po shook his head and everyone continued on, but Po paused behind Marin and said "Wait, first of all, how did your chi get infected in the first place?"

Marin was silent for a few seconds until she said "Jing…he promised that it would give me great power and help when I need it…"

"It's not surprising, he is a master of dark magic, it would be simple for him to infect the minds of those who would waiver before power." Shifu said.

Everyone continued on except Po, who stood for a moment behind Marin and said "Think about what Lianne said"

Po then ran to the others, leaving Marin to sit on her knees, thinking of what to do next.

**Meanwhile…**

Lily sat by Monkey as his wounds were resting up, looking at the sky as both of them enjoyed being close.

"So…what will you do after this?" Monkey asked.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked

"When this battle is over, what will you do?" Monkey asked.

"Why so sudden? You don't even know if your friends will actually win, I mean, against my sisters, they're toast." Lily said.

"No, they'll win, I know it" Monkey said with a smile.

"You're awfully happy about most things" Lily said.

"Look who's talking" Monkey said, as they both shared a laugh.

Then they were interrupted when the crossbow guards appeared again in front of them outside the Mansion, as Monkey and Lily stood up.

"What are you doing? I ordered you to stand aside." Lily said.

The guards then readied their crossbow and aimed at Monkey and Lily.

"HEY! Are you guys even listening!?" Lily yelled.

"We are ordered by Lord Jing to eliminate you, and the invaders." The guard in the front said.

"What!? But..but…" Lily said.

Monkey stepped in front of her, feeling better now that he's rested and said "You work for a guy who cheats and wants to destroy the face of the earth, what'd you expect?"

Lily took a moment to gather her thoughts, but then the front guard put his hands up as a sign for "Ready to fire" and Lily unsheathed her sword, preparing to fight.

**Back inside the Mansion…**

The group was walking along a narrow hall way until they were stopped by a blockade of guards with armor and spears ahead.

"Lord Jing has ordered for your deaths, and his wish shall be granted!" The lead guard in the front said.

The group prepared for battle, as they were losing time soon, they would lose Tigress if they do not hurry!

To be continued…

Alright Alright, now I know I take a long time to update, but come on, I'm a young write who has a hard time thinking of twists and inspirations, so, once again, please bare with me, and for those who hates that I'm stretching this whole thing along for too long, it's actually sensible since it's a large mansion with vicious warriors people --, anyways R&R!


	17. Chapter 18: READ IMMEDIATELY

2nd Author's Note

2nd Author's Note

Loyal fans, please listen, I know I haven't updated in a looooonnnng time, but it is for a good reason, high school started and I'm a freshman, and unfortunately I'm always so tired when I get home and that I just fall asleep, and then when I wake up I have to do homework and then it'll be too late to work Budding Emotions. Let's get two things straight, one, I'm not quitting on this story, NEVER, so don't worry, and two, it WILL continue, when I have a free day or free time, and believe me because I promise you THE NEXT CHAPTERS WILL BE STUNNING, AND THE CONCLUSION OF BUDDING EMOTIONS WILL BE AWESOME! So please for my fans who are still hopeful and the ones that lost hope, please don't lose hope, I will update, my passion for the Tigress and Po pairing is flaring! And my love for Dreamworks movies like Kung Fu Panda lives! So once again, please, I beg of you fans, wait for me, because I will return with more awesome updates, and to corset-rebellion-flower, thanks for commenting and not losing hope TT, and great story, it inspired me . I never break a promise, so please, find it in you to wait, I've seen so many people, and my friends have inspired plots and emotions in me, and I will pour them into the next chapters! Also, as a treat for reading this and not losing hope, I will give you a spoiler for future chapters: one of the good characters will lose their life…


	18. Chapter 18: Trick

Budding Emotions

Budding Emotions

Chapter 18: Trick

The group of guards in front of them stood firm, with spears raised and pointed at Po and the others.

Crane tapped his head and said "It just doesn't end does it?"

Po clenched his hands and said "Get outta here! We don't have time for this!"

"Po…" Lianne said, she has noticed how serious Po got ever since he defeated Marin.

"Forward, men!" The guard in the center yelled as they began marching towards the group, Shifu's ears twitched as he turned around and saw another group of guards marching towards them with raised spears behind them.

Po gave a stern look as he lit his hands with the flames, Shifu suddenly grabbed Po's hand and said "No, Po, you're still injured from your battle with Marin, we'll handle this"

"But we have no time for-" Po said, "Po," Shifu said, "She'll be fine, she's one of the five and my students, she's not helpless"

Po gave a look of uncertainty before he made the flames disappear and said "Fine"

Shifu let go of his hand and said "Mantis, come"

"Yes, master" Mantis said as he walked next to Shifu, and prepared his legs.

Shifu also got into stance and then the guards started gaining speed, and then Shifu and Mantis pounced at the group of guards in front of them, striking through them with fast flurries and punches, as Shifu and Crane then landed perfectly behind the bodies of the guards.

"Let's go!" Mantis said as the group started running through the guards. As they sprinted towards their location, the group of guards behind them was still hot on their tail, and there were also some remaining guards left that charged at them. One guard with a scimitar ran at the group but Lianne drew her sword and stabbed the guard, and pushed him to the wall and dragged him along the wall until she drew back her sword and catches up with the group.

"That was awesome! Lao taught you that?" Po said

"Yes, he's a very skilled swordsman, even if he cannot fight anymore." Lianne said as she sprinted.

"Hey, Lianne, after all this, how about you come to the Jade Palace? You can train under Shifu! I-I'm not saying that Lao's a bad master o-or anything like that-"Po stuttered

"I'll think about it, Po" Lianne said with a kind smile.

Crane and Po took care of the remaining guards as they finally came across the next elevator. Po pulled on the level quickly as they can hear the lift coming down, then Po turned around and saw the group of guards still chasing after them.

"Man, aren't they persistent" Crane said.

The guards then got closer as the group got into stance, but Po got to the front and clenched his fists and said "I'm getting tired of this!"

Po then charged at the group of guards with more focus then he ever had.

"Po! Wait-" Shifu yelled.

Then Po got up close to the group of guards, and spring jumped himself towards the group of guards, which bounced them all the way back to through the hall.

"Whoa, you don't see that everyday." Crane said.

"Yeah we do, every time with the dummy in the obstacle course." Mantis said

Crane and Mantis then snickered as Viper then snared at Mantis.

Po looked at his tummy and said "Whoooaaa, alright! Panda style, baby!"

"PO!" Shifu yelled.

Po turned around and saw the group already in the elevator, with Shifu's demanding glare as usual, reminded him of Tigress, which made him smile as he ran into the elevator. The group was silent then, as they always were in tense times like this. Lianne looked around and felt the tension, so she decided to use an icebreaker, "So…what is this Tigress like?"

Everyone then looked away as Shifu then said "She was one of the strongest of my students, brave, focused, and…she was my daughter."

"Shifu…" Po said, as he had never heard Shifu talk like this.

"I haven't upheld my part as her guardian, and now this happens, which is why I cannot let Jing do this." Shifu said with a stern face, as always.

"This is also my fault, master, I promised her protect her, this is my duty too." Po said.

"I know, Po, I know" Shifu said with a faint smile.

"And you've got us to help you" Crane said.

"Guys…" Po said.

"She's important to us too; we can't let it go like this." Viper said.

"Thanks guys." Po said.

Then the elevator came to a stop, as the group then exited into a bamboo room, with bamboo sliding doors at the sides, and layers of hanging silhouettes in front of the room. They saw a faint shadow behind the silhouettes; it seemed like a woman playing some sort of stringed instrument.

The song she played sounded very tranquil, but yet, it had a sad melody that carried on through the room. The music was very enticing, even Shifu stopped to appreciate the music.

Then the music stopped and the woman began to talk "I see you've made it here, you are quite formidable to have beaten my sisters"

"You are quite skilled with that guzheng, considering that you are a trained warrior" Shifu said

The woman giggled a bit and said "I see you have a taste in music, no surprise coming from a fully experienced warrior like you, Master Shifu"

Po leaned over to Viper and asked "Guzheng?"

"It's a stringed instrument that many people play, but it's no surprise you don't know, not a lot of people in the Valley of Peace play it." Viper replied

The woman then stood and slowly walked through the covers that hung from the ceiling. Before long she had revealed herself to the group, she was a grown adult, normal build, beautiful face, and she was wearing a blue kimono dress with a long blue see through scarf around her arms.

She then sat down and said "Please, sit down, you must be tired"

The group suddenly looked at each other in suspicion but Lianne just went ahead and sat down.

Po then started to sit down and whispered to Lianne "Is this really alright? I mean she is the enemy"

Lianne nodded and said "Yes, I think so, she doesn't show any sign of murderous intent, I think we can relax for now."

Then the rest of the group then sat down and all paid close attention to the woman.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, my name is Sayasha, the eldest sister of the Seraphic Angels and also their leader." Sayasha said

I'm afraid we have no time for idle conversations, wher—" Shifu said

"Where's Tigress!?" Po interrupted

Sayasha made a surprised expression and said "My! Right to the point so soon? I see you are very determined to save this Tigress, are you her lover by any chance?"

Po then blushed and turned away and said "Well, no…but—"

Shifu then interrupted and said "We need to pass through, and if it means we must fight you, we will"

Sayasha stopped and said "Well…I would be lying if I said I did not expect this, you are a formidable group of warriors, and so I will give my all as well"

Sayasha then stood up and started walking back to her instrument and stood behind it and said "I shall give you time to choose who shall fight me, as rules require"

Lianne then walked forward and said "I'll fight her"

Crane then stepped out and said "Me too"

"Lianne! Hold on are you sure?" Po said

Lianne nodded and said "This whole journey I haven't been a great help to you, and so I'll make up for it with this."

"Yes but—" Po said before Shifu interrupted

"Po" Shifu said

Po turned to him as Shifu then said "This is her decision as a warrior, let her fight, remember, this is not just your fight for Tigress, but also for Lianne's parents and homeland"

Po then looked at Lianne's determined face and remember that…this wasn't just his resolve, everyone here has a will to fight, and they're all here to help him.

Po then stood back as Crane and Lianne stepped out towards Sayasha, both prepared to fight.

"I see, now that you've made your choice, let us begin, COME!" Sayasha said as two daggers then dropped from her sleeves to her hands and she dashed to the left and crashed through the door leading to the other series of rooms, and Lianne drew her sword and chased after her as Crane flew along.

In the next room they could no longer spot Sayasha, she was gone, possibly escaped or hiding in another room. Then two daggers flew at Lianne as she slid to the side and dodged it while blocking the other knife at the bottom. Then Crane's eyes widened and blocked a knife from behind.

A voice then began to echo through the rooms "So, Lianne was it? Your style, it is familiar…"

Lianne was on her guard and said "I trained under Master Lao, your adoptive father."

Sayasha's eyes widened as she heard this, she then bit her lip and then threw another barrage of daggers at Lianne and Crane. Lianne deflected them again and Crane gently used his wings as a slide as he hten delivered the knife on his wings back to the direction it came from.

"You are very skilled also, Master Crane, I should expect no less from the fighting style that is based mostly on reflecting and deflecting attacks." Sayasha said

Lianne then scoped out the area and then moved on the next room, it was like a labyrinth, the rooms seem to go on forever. Lianne then charged through more rooms and her theory was right, every room was the same, empty and made of bamboo, the only different room was the room where they exited from the elevator.

"Do you not feel anything for Master Lao? He was your father" Lianne said

"You must be mistaken, my father disappeared long a ago, and he certainly wasn't a kung fu master, you must've certainly heard this from my sisters." Sayasha said

Then barrages of knives came from behind and front of Lianne, as she ducked and swiped away the knives.

"How did she--!?" Lianne thought

Then more knives came piercing through the doors as Lianne deflected them again.

"You may be skilled, but can you keep this up forever?" Sayasha said with a chuckle.

Lianne then dashed through another room, and raised her sword in caution as she slowly stepped towards the center.

"Master Crane, please use this as a time to think of a strategy!" Lianne thought

Crane, still in the previous room, was busy thinking of a strategy instead of moving around.

"The rooms seem to go on endlessly and yet Sayasha can attack us from any direction, there's no sound of sign of movement, so how can this be?" Crane thought

Then three daggers came from behind as Crane ducked back to dodge them at the same time Lianne deflected three daggers coming at her.

Lianne then traveled back through the open doors she made to Crane said "How is she doing this?"

Crane shook his head in deep thought until then that's when he got it. More daggers then suddenly came from all four directions as Lianne ducked while Crane deflected all of the knives with his wings in one spinning motion.

Meanwhile, back at the starting room, Po and Shifu sat there, only hearing the sounds of blades clashing.

Viper's tail kept wagging in tenseness, and Po then said "Worried about Crane?"

Viper was surprised and then said "NO! Not at all, why would you say that?"

"You seem pretty nervous" Viper said

"Well what about Tigress? Aren't you—" Viper said until she looked at Po's hands, they were clenched very hardly and tensely, almost to their extent.

"Po…" Viper said

Crane then resumed his stance and said "I have an idea, follow me"

Crane flew back to the beginning room while Lianne dashed behind him. This time a huge barrage of daggers came at them, as Crane Lianne tried to deflect them, but it wasn't enough, until Crane flew in threw the daggers and threw them off their course.

Crane then landed safely as a cut was revealed on his right wing.

"Master Crane, I'm so sorry, I…" Lianne said

"No, it's alright, I'm used to stuff like this, now come on" Crane said as he continued back to the room and Lianne followed.

Then they were both back in the starting room as they saw Po, Shifu, and Viper there.

"Did you kick her butt?" Po asked with an excited face as he stood up

"No." Crane said bluntly

Po's expression lowered as he sat back down.

"Now Lianne, just stay still, but keep your stance up." Crane said.

Lianne nodded and did what Crane said, as they both stood there, not moving and inch. Until about 10 minutes later and no daggers came at them, Crane smiled and said "I knew it."

Crane lowered his guard as Lianne followed his lead.

"Sayasha, this is your trick isn't it?" Crane said

Everyone else was confused as Shifu just watched.

Sayasha giggled and said "Why don't you tell me what it is first so I can tell you?"

"Alright, well since the beginning of this battle, you moved the other rooms, which was then when we followed you, and then that's when the daggers came at us, and even as Lianne moved to other rooms, there was no stop to it, it seemed endless, but that's not the case is it?" Crane said

"Well you're smart attentive, I'll give you that" Sayasha said

"You never attacked us when were in the room where you played your sorrowful song, instead you attacked us outside of this room, and first it seemed strange that you could throw daggers at any direction or have it aimed towards the both of us, but that only led me to try a little test, which was returning to this room, and that's when the largest group of daggers came at us, and it seemed like you didn't want us to return to this room did you?" Crane said

Sayasha was silent this time, as Crane then continued "So this is your trick, this is all an illusion"

Sayasha then laughed and said "So that's your reason?"

"Let me explain, I've heard that Jing, your current master is very skilled in dark magic, and I would imagine that he would be able to make illusions as well, meaning he could've helped you in this battle." Crane said

Po's head kept wagging up and down as he struggled not to doze off, while Viper only watched with a smile.

"Considering the fact that you never attack us when we returned to this room, it means that this is the only REAL room, and to prove it you could've attacked us at anytime, even now if you wanted, but you didn't, and so my solution is that the other rooms were just illusions, made to make us think that the rooms are endless but the daggers are everywhere, but it's not, all this time we've been hitting nothing haven't we?" Crane said

"My you talk a lot, you're really the intelligent type aren't you?" Sayasha said

"To prove that even the cut I seemingly seemed to have gotten from the other rooms have faded." Crane said

Lianne then realized it too; the cut wasn't even there anymore.

"And so that means you must be hiding right HERE" Crane said as he struck right in front of him and everyone heard a thud as Sayasha then appeared from out of nowhere while she blocked Crane's strike.

Viper and Shifu's eyes widened but Po was already dozed off.

"My, my, that was a mouthful you mentioned, but yes, you are correct" Sayasha said

Lianne then tried to attack from the side but a dagger appeared from Sayasha's sleeve to her hand as she used it to block Lianne's attack too.

Sayasha then released and then jumped back and crashed through the door to the room behind her and landed elegantly and said "I suppose it's time we got serious about this"

**Meanwhile, in Tigress's room…**

**Tigress was going to do it, she was going to attempt her escape now, as soon as Jing walks through that door, she would assault him, that way she can get him out of the way soon.**

**She then thought of Jing's words. "Po's here…why?! That idiot I told him not to come, I can't lose him too…"**

**She could only remember one thing from her childhood:**

_Tigress was little then, wearing her small noble kimono as she sat on her mom's lap on a bench near the trees in their backyard._

_"Mommy? Why did you marry dad? He's so different from you, he's strong, quick, and courageous, and you're nice, pretty, and good at cooking." Little Tigress said._

_"Well honey, sometimes opposites can attract, it wouldn't be fair if only people that were alike could fall in love now would it?" Tigress's mother said_

_"I don't understand…" Tigress said_

_Tigress's mom smiled and said "Someday you will, I promise"_

_Tigress then looked up and said "Love…thank you, mother"_

_Then she mouthed three words she wanted to say to Po, and she said it over and over again, until she could say it freely._

_"Po, I—" Tigress was about to say until Jing came in and then Tigress sprang up towards him while Jing held her head back and then took Tigress's hands and said "Are you that joyful to see me?"_

_"Let me go! You sick—"Tigress said_

_"Now you should be happy yourself, I could've killed you anytime I wanted now but I didn't, and why? So I could have to joy of having you see your friends fail and die as they come as they know the fact that they died trying to save YOU" Jing said as he then pushed her back._

_Tigress then did a swipe kick but Jing knocked her back with his fists but then Tigress clawed at his face and left a mark._

_"Why you insufferable--!" Jing said as he knocked Tigress back with the base of his spear and said "Try this again and I swear I will finish you before you can even scream!"_

_Tigress, staggered as she then sat down again, thinking of other ways to escape, but she couldn't simply get her mind out of those three words in her head._

_"Po, I…" _

**To be continued…**

**whoot! Finally right? yep, i managed to finish a chapter, my longest one too i think, anyways high school homework sucks but don't worry, like i said in my previous not, i won't give up as long as you guys don't give up on me, and yes the reason it took such a long time was because i also needed to plan out future chapters and character stories, and thanks for those who reviewed and didn't give up!**


	19. Chapter 19: Team Work

Budding Emotions Chapter 19: Team WorkHello peoples, I am back once again with an update, anyways have you seen the Secrets of the Furious Five DVD trailer? It's a new Dream Works film that tells the back stories of each of the furious five, if not then go on Youtube or the official website to see it, it came out already, so buy it, I have! Anyways, enjoy the fic, btw you must already know I'm a later updater, but like I've said many times, stick with me! And review!

Lianne charged with a full combo of slash attacks while Sayasha blocked her attacks and then Lianne jumped back while Crane flew from under her and charged at Sayasha with a flying spin attack while she ducked back and avoided it then Lianne saw this as an opportunity and tried to attack but as her blade got near Sayasha blades came out of Sayasha's shoes and blocked Lianne's attack, Sayasha then flipped back and regained her balance, pushing Lianne off to the side at the same time. Crane caught Lianne before she could fall and helped her to her feet.

"I see you two have no problems with coordinating your attacks, even against a new enemy you are cautious, I am impressed," Sayasha said

"I believe you've told u that already, you and your sisters seem like good people, and I don't want to fight Master Lao's apprentices," Lianne said

"I believe you're wrong girl, my master is Jing, no one else" Sayasha said with a stern face

Lianne frowned a bit and said "Then why did you hesitate from attacking when I told you that earlier?"

Sayasha's eyes widened a little as she remembered, from the earlier fight she stopped from attacking for a while when she heard Lao's name.

"Hmph, you know nothing, girl" Sayasha said before she then threw a barrage of knives that came from her sleeves.

Crane and Lianne then dodged the knives and then charged at Sayasha from different sides. They both attacked at the same time, while Lianne blocked their attacks with her knives, while she then used the blades on her shoes to try to stab Lianne and Crane, while they then retreated to the other side of the room again.

"This isn't working, none of our attacks are working, and she just either blocks or reflects them." Lianne whispered

"Just keep at bay and watch for an opening, it should come sooner or later, no enemy is perfect, not even with the dark chi." Crane said

Sayasha had a calm look on her face, she didn't look fazed at all, Crane couldn't read her moves, but nw he knows what her possible attacks might be. Lianne and Crane then charged again but this time Lianne jumped up and slashed from above but Lianne blocked it with her dagger as Lianne then used that as leverage and jumped over Sayasha and landed behind her while Crane attacked with wing strikes as Sayasha bended back out of reflex while Lianne did a round house kick and tripped her over while Crane grabbed her legs with his feet and spun her around in the air and threw her to the other side, while Lianne leaped up and Crane grabbed her and propelled her towards Sayasha, as Sayasha then used her two knives in a defensive stance, as Lianne then lifted her sword and then smashed it down, while Sayasha blocked the blow, she was propelled into the ground, as Lianne landed she plunged her sword towards Sayasha.

Po stood up as he saw this, it seems as though Lianne has finished Sayasha, but Po looked closely and saw that Lianne's blade was stabbed inches away from Sayasha's head.

"Tch, mercy? Or perhaps just fear of killing someone?" Sayasha said

Lianne was still grasping on to the handle of her sword as she said "Just please, tell me, why did you cross Master Lao?"

Sayasha then pushed Lianne off with her legs and stood up, unfazed and graceful. Lianne then pounced back up on her feet, and saw that her blade was still over at Sayasha's side. Sayasha picked up the blade, and examined it closely.

Sayasha then peered at the bottom of the handle , and said "Yes, no doubt you are Lao's student."

Lianne knew she was talking about the crossed blades at the bottom of the handle, symbolizing Lao's dojo symbol. Sayasha then thew the blade over to Lianne as she caught it.

"Don't think just because I know dark magic, that I am going to go against the rules of conduct for a duel." Sayasha said

Sayasha then trembled as a voice echoed in her head, "Sayasha, enough with this child's play, the ritual shall begin soon, finish them!"

Sayasha then shook her head and let out a long sigh, "You seem like kind people, but I'm afraid this must end"

A dark aura then surrounded Sayasha, sending a chill down Po's spine as he watched this. Po then felt a sensation in his body, his breathing got heavier and his body started to feel heavier.

"You can sense it, right? The dark chi surrounding her?" Shifu said

"Either that or I'm really hungry, either way it doesn't feel good." Po said

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it, remember this battle Po, learn from what you see, it might save you some day." Shifu said

"But why?" Lianne said, "Just tell me why you accepted the dark chi and betrayed Master Lao!"

Sayasha then charged as she clashed blades with Lianne and tried to push her back to the wall. Lianne could feel the increased pressure of Sayasha's push thanks to the dark chi as her stand was pushed back, inching towards the wall. Crane flew to Sayasha to try to break her stance but she kicked him away, as Crane was then kneeling to the floor, clutching his stomach. Lianne was now inches towards the wall, as she could feel her muscles straining just from holding Sayasha back.

"You are a very skilled warrior, but you are wasting your talents, helping these people on a hopeless cause, join us, and receive power like you've never felt before!" Sayasha said

"Is your heart so cold? You don't consider what happened to your sisters!? What about Marin? She nearly lost her own humanity and soul because of your so called 'power'!" Lianne said as she then grunted and started to push back, as their forces conflicted each other, Crane regained himself and flew behind Lianne, and pushed his legs to Lianne's back, giving her support in her efforts to push Sayasha back.

"Lianne! Keep pushing!" Crane shouted. Po's eyes widened at this as Lianne and Crane worked together to push Sayasha back, and they succeeded as Lianne pushed her back with one last grunt. Sayasha then slid across the floor and flipped herself back to balance as Lianne and Crane panted to catch their breath from their struggle.

"Tired? Well unfortunately I have all the strength in the world right now." Sayasha said with a smirk.

Lianne then paced her breathing as she regained her stance and talked to Crane about their situation.

"What do we do? She's too strong to face up close, and we can't exactly attack her from afar." Lianne whispered

Crane then looked at the large room, looking for an advantage, but there were none, it was a large bamboo room with two doors, one is the one that leads to the room before, and the front door is to go forward, he had to think hard and quick. Then he remembered his calligraphy sessions, he imagined the patterns of the ink in his mind, and imagined Sayasha as a dot, and then as the ink trails winded and circled the dot, making one complicated word yet completed by one fluid motion, and then he got it.

"Lianne, you're literate, right?" Crane asked

"Yes, but I hardly think this is a time to practice it" Lianne whispered, as Sayasha and Lianne circled the room, building tension between them as they both thought of what to do next.

"You know how to write the word 'truth' right?" Crane asked again

"Yes" Lianne answered

"Well here's the plan..." Crane then whispered quietly to Lianne

**To be continued...**

**Woot! Finally a new chapter right? Yes, I'm such a lazy writer and I'm sure many of you got bored or forgotten my story, well I'm deeply sorry, but as of the previous author's note i posted before this chapter, you should know why I posted late, plus finals testing is coming soon so I will give you, the loyal fans a choice, should i make short but quick chapter posts, or long but takes a while to post chapters, so what is your choice? Read and submit a review to please tell me your still read and haven't given up on my story or got bored with it yet, and also tell me your choice in your review also, ciao until next time!**


	20. Chapter 20: Truth

Budding Emotions:

Chapter 20: "Truth"

Lianne got into a defensive weapon stance, and Crane stood near her, waiting to give the signal for their attack. Lianne felt a strange sensation, that made her very soul shake, was it fear? Fear caused by the new strange aura surrounding Sayasha?

Crane then took a big breath and whispered "Now!"

And with that Lianne charged toward Sayasha, while Crane flew behind her, Sayasha responded quickly and threw two quick daggers at he enemies, her movements were so fast and more fluent now that it almost looked like she was performing a graceful dance. Lianne deflected one and then dragged her sword on the floor, leaving a trail as she ran, while Crane jumped up and redirected the other dagger with his legs, twisting the direction of the dagger around as it made a slash mark across Lianne's trail. When Lianne got close enough, she then made a quick spin and tried to slash Sayasha in the face but Sayasha deflected the attack with her dagger which made Sayasha make another horizontal trail with her sword, while Crane tried to attack from above but was blocked and pushed away, then as Sayasha turned around Lianne was gone, she had ran around Sayasha and made more trails with her sword and attacking Sayasha from behind at the same time as Crane attacked from the front. Sayasha had her hands full defending herself from both sides. When Sayasha's stance was slipping, Crane saw a chance and moved to the left of Sayasha's side and while she faltered Lianne and Crane went back to back and then turned and switched places as Lianne spun around and made a trail behind her as she then turned around and lifted her blade and disarmed Sayasha by knocking away both her daggers and then slashing her diagonally across her chest and then Crane flew towards Sayasha from behind Liane and spun around as he headbutted Sayasha towards the other wall, where she then fell to her knees.

No blood could be spotted; the dark chi was too dense and dark to see any wounds. Sayasha was panting harder than she has for a long time, she raised her head and stood up with her knees partly shaking as she tried to regain herself and walked towards Lianne and Crane a little while clutching her chest but then stopped and asked "What sort of strategy was that!?"

Crane looked her dead in the eye and said "Look below you."

Sayasha looked below her and saw the marks made by Lianne's sword, she turned a full circle around her until she figured it out, all the scratches, made the Chinese character "Truth", she was standing in the dead top of it, she was the dot that completed the word.

"You..." Sayasha said out of surprise

Crane only smirked as Sayasha thought over it, they used their little plan to charge at Sayasha, fooling her into believing they were up to the same tricks, but then they got to both of her sides, and gained an advantage, and they used the "Truth" to defeat her.

Lianne planted her sword on the ground and said "It's finished, now please tell me..."

"Silence!" Sayasha yelled, "You think this is finished, I am Sayasha, leader of the Seraphic Angels, and I will either win this battle or die trying!"

Sayasha then used the dark chi and drew her fallen daggers towards her as she grabbed both and charged towards Lianne. Crane was about to attack when Lianne stopped him and shook her head. Lianne took a deep breath and when Sayasha got near and tried to attack, Lianne then opened her eyes and grabbed her sword quickly and kneeled under Sayasha's dagger strike and dodged it, as Lianne then spun around with her sword, slashing Sayasha at the stomach at the same time.

The two opponents stood still for a while, until Sayasha then fell to her knees, as Lianne then slashed her sword in the air to get the blood off, and then sheath her blade like a true warrior.

Sayasha fell to her knees once again, twice she was forced to do this, and again Lianne had asked her the same question. "Just tell me, please, we are both masters, you need not hold back."

Sayasha's body was hurt badly now, as she was forced to drop her daggers and clutch her own body. Po could feel the dark chi getting stronger, as the dark chi then started to envelop Sayasha, Po then remembered what happened to Marin and then got up from his seat and ran towards Sayasha.

"Po!" Viper said

Po then placed his hands on Sayasha's shoulders and summoned the dragon flames. The dark chi started to withdraw as Po then increased the flames as they enveloped Sayasha, then the flames dispersed, as Sayasha's body was now clean of the entire dark chi. Sayasha fell on her back, as Po then stood up, panting to catch up his breath and recharge his chi. Sayasha's wounds were now apparent, as they stopped bleeding for the moment thanks to Po's flames.

"Good work, Po" Shifu said

Po then jumped up in surprise and said "How do you do that?!"

Sayasha then opened her eyes and saw Lianne, standing over Sayasha. Sayasha was silent as Lianne was about to say something but Sayasha sighed and said "Back then, when me and my sisters were training under Master Lao, we felt content, as we were getting stronger in our attempt, our attempt of taking revenge for our mother, but Master Lao..." Sayasha stopped a bit to clutch her chest and then said "...he always told us to not use our skills for evil, but for good, and to never take revenge, for we would be no better than our so called father."

Viper slithered near Sayasha to hear her story.

"But one day, we had a visitor, it was Master Jing, he had come to observe us in our training, and he was impressed, and wanted to take us under his wing, but Master Lao was sceptical, and so a duel was held, Master Lao would've won if..." Sayasha continued

"Jing didn't cheat" Po interrupted

Sayasha then fell silent and had a guilty look on her face.

"Lao then laid there, helpless and wounded, and we weren't going to have a master that weak, so we went with Jing." Sayasha said

Lianne thought over it and said "You saw how badly hurt he was...and Jing was going to finish him, but you offered to go if he spared Lao didn't you?"

Sayasha then looked away for a moment, holding back her emotions and said "The cell holding your Tigress is up ahead, through the door ahead of me."

Lianne wanted to say something but was interrupted again as Sayasha said "Just go!"

Lianne was then silent as she led the group towards the door, Po then was charging at the door until a voice was heard "Hey!"

The group turned around and saw Master Monkey running towards them with Marin and Lily. The group was prepared to fight as Monkey then waved his hands and said "No no no, they're not here to fight, they're just here with me to run from the guards.

The group looked confused as Lily explained "Jing ordered the guards to kill the intruders on sight, and the Seraphic Angels who have failed him..."

Marin and Lily looked away as Sayasha struggled to stand up and said "That...cannot be..."

Loud noises were then heard from behind them, and the sounds of marching grew louder as Monkey said "Let's go!"

The group then ran towards the door but Lianne stopped the group by saying "Wait..."

The group turned around and saw the Seraphic Angels standing tall, at the entrance behind them.

"Come on we have no time for you guys to be sore losers, let's go!" Mantis said

Sayasha picked up her daggers and stood firm as she said "No! We will fight these guards or die trying, that is the motto of the Seraphic Angels, do not mistake this as us helping you on your goal, Dragon Warrior."

Po looked at them with much sadness, he saw their wounds, they might be skilled but will they make it through the hordes of guards?

"We're just gonna kick the asses of those traitorous guards, now go!" Marin said while unsheathing her tonfas.

"I'll be rooting for you, Monkey!" Lily said while waving at him smiling.

Everyone stared at Monkey with a smirk as he replied "Don't say a word"

Po then rolled his eyes and said "Alright can we go now? See ya!"

"Dragon Warrior!" Sayasha said.

Po then looked at her while she asked "Tell me, what is it that drives you to rescue this Tigress with so much..."

"Fodacity?" Po added

"Yes" Sayasha said

Po remembered his words to Tigress at the beginning of this mission, as he was still unsure of his feelings at the time, but now he knows his feelings are true.

"I made a promise, and I'm gonna keep it!" Po said as he ran through the door with lightning speed.

The group ran through the door as Lianne looked behind her and saw the Angels preparing themselves, Sayasha turned around and said "Go...Lianne."

Lianne then nodded as she closed the door and ran to catch up with the others.

"So, what are we going to do about Jing?" Lily said as she prepared her sword.

Marin looked at Sayasha for an answer and said "We'll leave it to them...to end this."

_Meanwhile..._

Tigress stood up with her fists clenched, anxious to get out and hit something.

"That's it, I won't be held back like a helpless kitten, I'm getting out of here one way or another!" Tigress thought.

Tigress then sounds of struggle which alerted the guards defending the door, as they both entered the room and saw nothing, while Tigress then let go of her hold on the ceiling and split kicked the guards both in the face, one guard stood up and tried to strike Tigress with his spear but she deflected it up into the ceiling with her palm, as the spear planted itself to the ceiling, Tigress then used it to spin around the spear like a bar while kicking both guards furiously as she then landed and the guards fell, she then ran out of the cell and saw many other guards down the hall.

"Tch..." Tigress said as she then pounced on one of the guards and then flipping him over and then throwing him at the other guards like a ball.

Tigress then made a dash for it, even though she took a random direction through the hall, since she didn't know where to go, while Po on the other hand was climbing up the stairs towards the cell room.

**To be continued...**

**Woot finished, I know you wanted short chapters but I couldn't resist, I'll try to write short ones if I can, I have had a very good break and have been playing the Kung Fu Panda game to get inspiration and for fun, and it is fun, and just to tell you I'll be making references to the story in the game as I go on, so you might have to play it to get Po's references and his journey. Read and Review, and till next time!**


	21. Chapter 21: Encounter

Budding Emotions

Chapter 21: "Encounter"

Po raced up the winding stairs as everyone followed, it was only then when group wondered, "When was Po this fast on stairs?"

Finally they had reached the floor; they had not kept track so they had no idea what floor they're on or how high this mansion was. Ahead of them was a long hallway that had many sliding doors that led to rooms to the side.

"Tigress has to be here somewhere; everyone spread out and search every room!" Shifu said

And so the group separated and searched the rooms, Crane found nothing but weaponry and armors for the guards in his rooms, Viper and Mantis found only clothing and makeup, while Lianne and Mantis found rooms with bed rolls in them, and Shifu's search led him to nowhere either.

The group gathered at the center of the hallways, as Shifu said "Anything?"

Everone only nodded in disappointment as Shifu looked at the group and said "Wait...Where's Po?"

The group finally realized that and started to look for him. Meanwhile, Po had followed his instincts to take the left turn at the right hallway, why? Because he had absolutely no sense of directions.

"O...k, where am I?" Po said with a confused face.

Po walked carefully in the hallway to avoid detection, plus there was the fact that nearly no wooden floors can stand his weight. Po head up the hallway and it ended with a dead end and another turn to another hallway to the left, but then Po heard footsteps coming from the other hallway to the left, Po then backed up against the wall and approached the hallway slowly, the footsteps suddenly and slowly stopped as Po then charged into the left hallway until a foot suddenly charged at his face and kicked him towards the wall and through a sliding door into a room.

Po quickly got up and went through the hole that resembled his own shape and said "Hah! I almost felt that one!". His vision was still blurry and hazy from the kick.

"Po?" A familiar voice said.

"That's right! Now get ready to feel the thund-" Po was then discontinued when his vision recovered and he began to see the familiar figure more clearly until his vision returned.

"Tigress!" Po said

They then approached each other and hugged, a hug that Po had thought he would never experience ever again, the embrace that was his courage to keep moving on. Tigress's heart only sank when she saw rips and slashes in his new clothins and scars and wounds, especially the big cut scar across his chest.

"Po..." Tigress said, intending to apologize, but their embrace continued on for a minute until they could hear someone clearing his throat loudly, they turned around and saw the group.

"You know if you wanted to be alone, you could've just said so." Crane said, obviously taking some payback for last time.

"Tigress! You're safe, thank heavens!" Viper said as she slithered over to her.

Everyone approached Tigress, even one worried and stressed red panda master.

"Master Shifu, I apologize for my rash-" Tigress said

Shifu put up his palm as a sign for her to stop, and then said "None of that now, we'll discuss it when we get you out of here."

She nodded and bowed in respect as the group continued on, Po felt a paw grab his paw and stopped him, he turned around and saw that it was Tigress.

"Po, I just wanted to say...thank you, for coming here." Tigress said as she tried to make a stern face.

Po only smiled, as Tigress blushed a little as Po said "I promised didn't I? And besides aren't I like your second master now? Masters always have to protect their students." Po then made a proud face.

Tigress raised an eyebrow and said "Well Masters usually don't get their face kicked in, and they don't stay comfy in level zero either."

They both shared a laugh at that, and then they heard a voice.

"How sweet, a love interest."

Jing then appeared behind them out of the blue, even Tigress could not sense him. The others suddenly heard the voice and turned around and saw Jing in front of Po and Tigress, and ran to them.

Jing laughed lightly and said "You know, its people like you two that make feel kind of sorry that this world has to end."

To be continued...

See? I updated fast! Like i promised, anyways I hope you loyal readers have liked the story so far, and you should look foward to the ending! It's going to be long and action filled! Read and Review plz!


	22. Chapter 22: The Final Battle Part 1

Budding Emotions

Chapter 22: Final Battle Part 1

"This is touching and all, but if it's all the same with you, dragon warrior, I'll be taking the Maiden back." Jing said with a carefree expression.

Po moved Tigress behind him and said "Try me then"

Jing smirked and said "If we must..."

Then suddenly his spear came slashing down while Po stopped it with his hands.

Jing raised an eyebrow and said "Oh ho, so you have improved, as expected from the dragon warrior."

Po then let go and said "I have a name, it's Po, but sure, dragon warrior's cool with me"

Jing laughed lightly and said "Not a very mannered one are you?"

"What can I say? I was raised by bunnies and gooses." Po replied while getting into his stance.

Tigress wanted to help him but felt her hand being pulled and as she looked behind it was Monkey.

"Come on!" Monkey said as he pulled her towards the exit.

As the group was about to exit a dark barrier appeared before them, they tried to break through but nothing worked.

"Come now, leaving so soon? But you are my honoured guests, you have yet to see the entire mansion, allow me to give you the final tour." Jing said as she pounded his spear to the ground and everyone was warped into a new room.

"What the--?" Po said as he then looked around and saw a giant field made of stone, with carvings of the yin and yang symbol.

Master Shifu knew the moment he surveyed this area, it was a battle ground, specifically made for warriors to battle in.

"Grand, isn't it? A place worthy for warriors of our caliber to do battle is it not?" Jing said

"Uhhh dude, are we gonna fight? Or are you just gonna keep bragging?" Po said

Jing was a bit annoyed by his unmannerly behaviour, but he disregarded it and said "I must say I am still quite amazed, I dealt a fatal blow to you, and still you survive, I even dispatched three of my best warriors against you, and still, you persevered, your desire to be with the maiden is that strong?"

"Who said I did it alone?" Po said, as his comrades then stood beside him.

Lianne stepped forward a bit and said "I am Lianne, apprentice under Master Lao, I am here to avenge him for what you have done, to both ME, MY MASTER, and MY VILLAGE!". She then drew her sword and prepared herself.

"Ahhh, so Lao is still up and about eh? Well, his arms are useless now anyways" Jin said with a shrug.

"How'd u—" Lianne said

"Please, did you really think your little hiding hole could stay concealed forever, know THIS child, I possess powers far beyond this realm, I MYSELF am on the very path to becoming the new MESSIAH for the new world, why, were you were traveling through my mansion, I sent a...special celebration troupe to your little cave, to welcome them into my new world.

"You...You FIEND!" Lianne said as she charged at him aimlessy with her sword ready to strike.

"Wait! Lianne!" Shifu yelled

Jing then smiled devilishly as Lianne drew closer, as she then noticed his spear was nowhere to be seen, until suddenly it burst out of the ground, charging at Lianne with great speed.

Lianne stopped dead in her tracks as she thought her life would then end, as she closed her eyes, but she felt nothing, she opened her eyes and saw that the spear was held back, by the flaming hand of Po.

Po then grabbed the spear and concentrated all his chi into his throwing hand and sent it flying straight back to Jing.

Jing's eyes widened as he then used his dark art to redirect the spear down to the ground, as he then grabbed it and returned to his stance.

Lianne then noticed that she had fallen back into Po's arms, as he held her he said "You ok?"

Lianne blushed a bit and said "Yes, thank you"

Po then helped her back up as Jing thought "Impossible, his chi level is on the same level as me!?"

Po then said "If it's all the same with you, I'm just glad to have something to hit, especially if its you"

Tigress noticed that, Po was different, more serious than before, more stronger, she couldn't help but feel sorry again, for the scar across his chest and the pain she put him through.

Everyone gathered around Po and Lianne, as Jing said "Very well then, very well, if you insist Dragon Warrior, I will fight you with my full strength, come at me then!"

Everyone got into their stances as Crane said "Your orders, leader?"

Po lit his hands with the dragon flames and said "SHOW HIM YOUR FODACITY!!!"

Po and the others then charged with all they have.

**To be Continued...**


	23. Chapter 23: The Final Battle Part 2

Budding Emotions

Chapter 23: The Final Battle Part 2

Po barely had any time to react as Jing quickly swung his spear down, leaving a nasty cut on Po's fist, "Argh!" Po stumbled back a bit, Monkey then simply grabbed Jing's spear and held it down before it could strike again, but really, Monkey then used himself as leverage for Tigress as she jumped on Monkey's shoulders and did a somersault kick to Jing, then, with Monkey's other free hand, Tigress threw him towards Jing at which then Monkey kicked him with great force, causing Jing to lose his balance and stagger back; Po saw this as a chance and charged forward and attacked, but Jing used his talon feet to do a swipe kick, which Po knocked away and did an uppercut punch which was dodged, as Shifu dashed from behind Po and slid through Jing's legs and jumped on his back and struck at his shoulders, paralyzing him for a brief moment.

"Now!" Shifu yelled.

Mantis turned around "You heard him!"

Mantis then swiftly and without hesitation struck Jing with his mighty legs multiple times, "How do you like that!?" Tigress then charged at him as she then jumped up and kicked him in face, while Po ran up towards her.

"Po! Swing me!" Tigress yelled as she flip jumped back onto Po's open palms and was thrown towards Jing again as she did a full force push with both her palms, as Viper rebounded off of Tigress and did a flip whip with her tail as Crane spun as he flew around Jing. Jing's anger only simmered during all this as he thought, _"Why!? Why am I being beaten!? Even with my might I can't take on all of them alone!"_

"_...UnLeAsHe Me..." _a voice whispered in Jing's mind

"_NO! Not yet, I don't need your help to beat these fools." _Jing thought as his limbs then loosened again and he could freely move.

Po gritted his teeth and shook his hand to at least relieve the pain, he needed some way to distract Jing. _"Might as well try it now!"_ Po then lit his flames again and placed then both to the very ground, "HOW'S THIS!?" then pillars of fire started to form a line that headed towards Jing. _"Whoa! Didn't think that would work, still, .AWESOME!" _Po thought.

"What!?" Jing then used his wings and flew up to dodge the deadly flame, though he felt a presence behind him.

"Where are YOU going?" Crane then kicked Jing while Viper suddenly slithered from the back of Crane's wings and did a choke hold on Jing while Shifu leaped forward and quickly head butted him, then he tried striking both of his arm's nerve points to render them useless, but Jing used his talon feet to swipe Shifu away before he could; Shifu flipped over and landed safely, but with a bleeding mouth.

"Po, jump on my hand!" Po turned to see Tigress preparing her hands.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Po jumped on Tigress's paws as she then lifted him up towards Jing, as Po then lit the flames again and prepared his punch. Tigress, as well as the others, saw the look in Po's eyes, they knew that look well, the look of seriousness and determination in battle, but also something else, anger? Rage? Maybe, but what truly inspired him was simply...his love for Tigress, and the suffering he went through to come this far. Po's flaming punch was delivered as Jing used his spear to try and slash at Po's hand, but Po's punch went right through the spear and broke it, and sent Jing down towards the very ground, as Viper jumped back on to Crane in time and flew back down to safety.

"Whew, I know that look" Crane shook his head in awe that someone like Po could get this way

"Every kung fu warrior gets like that, it's just our way, sometimes violence is necessary, even for Po..." Viper then peered over to see Tigress, in awe of Po as well, "well, maybe sometimes it's because we have the right reason to win"

"Po..." Tigress said as she saw Crane help Po land safely and triumphantly, and when he turned around, the face she saw was not one of vengeance, or one of bloody rage as she saw before, no, it was simply Po smiling, his happy and upbeat smile that changed her, it had softened her heart, but...for a brief moment, she felt happy.

Po grinned and gave her a thumbs up, "See? I told you I'd keep my word!" Po then shook his hand to relieve the pain again "Thank the Buddha! I've been itching to do that!"

Lianne stood at the sidelines, amazed at the sight, "This...is their strength..." she felt bad for not helping during the struggle, but seeing Po smile also eased her heart, but...it sparked something new in her. But everyone stopped as they felt a rumble that came from the rubble where Jing was punched into.

"Aw WHAT!? Come--, WHY do they always have to be alive after we gave them a beating?" Po asked Shifu.

Shifu only smirked and said "Welcome to kung-fu"

Jing breathed heavily, but not out of exhaustion, it was the breathing of a hungry animal, longing to kill its prey. _"You despise them don't you? They have come to ruin EVERYTHING YOU HAVE WORKED FOR! So unleash me! Unleash me, and I will wipe their miserable existence off the face of this planet, THEN, our new world can begin!"_

Jing rose, dirty from the rubble and something was different, his eyes were now different, filled with anger and killing intent, like a falcon prey staring at its prey. "Ignorant trash! You've think you've won with one strike!?"

Po raised an eyebrow. "Wow! Hit your head pretty hard on that rubble, didn't you?"

"I think so, because for a moment there a thought he sounded like..." Tigress added. Jing was about to say something but Tigress finished. "...a madman". Jing clenched his fists so hard his spear could've broke, and even though his body was pretty torn up, he stilled maintained the killing intent for Po and his friends.

Jing then unexpectedly smiled and laughed crazily. "A madman? Hahahahaha...hahahahahaha," Jing lifted his head and placed his palm over it, "HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Jing had finally snapped "Perhaps...but in that case..." A great force of power then surrounded Jing, making even Master Shifu stagger, both he and Po could sense it, Jing had unleashed his dark chi.

Jing then got into his stance, with his deadly new dark chi imbued spear in hand; ready to take the life from its victims, "I'LL MAKE IT SO MY MADNESS WILL CONSUME YOU ALL! THE NEW WORLD DOESN'T NEED IGNORANT FOOLS LIKE YOU CORRUPTING IT! NOW! TASTE MY POWER YOU FOOLS!" Jing laughed insanely again.

"Something's wrong...I don't think that's Jing anymore, it just feels all wrong..." Viper said

"Yeah, maybe the dark chi took over or somethin'!" Mantis tried to maintain his stance over the new heavy weight of the dark chi.

Lianne walked up to Po and prepared herself, "I was right..." Po turned and saw Lianne's expression melted from to a determined expression.

"He hides underneath his seemingly mannerly and cultured mask, but underneath, he's nothing but an insane murderer." Lianne then looked at Po, obviously asking for his course of action. Po gulped, "Well I was thinking since we already have Tigress mayyyybeee the new world won't be so-" Tigress had then kissed him square on the lips, shutting him up instantly, as she had done before,, while Po couldn't help but fall into a state of shock, but he appreciated the situation he was in, while Crane tipped his hat down to cover his eyes while he blushed, and Viper only sighed at how lucky Tigress was, and Mantis and Monkey smirked mischievously, and Lianne smiled at this sight, as Master Shifu was not surprised, after all, they were in love. Tigress actually did this out of impulse, maybe because it has been so long since she saw him that...she actually missed him, she had actually never kissed anybody at all, and yet with this kiss she performed it so passionately, but then she stopped and left Po a bit disappointed but still blushing, "Po, I'm not so weak that I need you to protect me all the time, I'm not some helpless girl awaiting waiting to be helped up," Tigress bit her lip a bit, for of course she lied, she had waited for Po to rescue her ", I appreciate what you've done but you have to remember: I am a kung-fu master, and I can help you, so please..." Tigress looked deep into his jade green eyes, the very same that laminated in the dark shine of the moon, "; we can do this...together."

Po then looked around as his friends gathered around him, "What? Did you think we came here to see you guys smooch!? Come on! Let's kick his butt!"

"I'll pull down his pants afterwards! Stupid jerk did leave me with scars from last time" Monkey said, obsessed with his old pranks as always.

"You can't expect to save the princess without killing the monster first, do you?" Viper said gently as her words made Po and Tigress blush.

"That monster destroyed my hometown, killed my family, and is now waging an attack on the hideout, I cannot walk away empty handed." Liane had a proud face upon her

Crane sighed. "Well we came this far didn't we? Let's do this so we can go home happy and get some rest!"

Po then looked at Shifu, who stood with his hands coupled behind his back, "Jing could pose a powerful threat to both the Valley, and the world itself, even more than Tai Lung, and it is YOUR duty as well as ours to protect China."

Po stood and pondered for a brief moment, thinking about this responsibility given to him, he was scared, so scared his legs were still shaking, but then he felt a paw holding on his paw, he looked as it was Tigress, smiling and looking at him. Po couldn't help but then smiled, "Heh, yeah, 6 of the world's greatest kung fu masters, the last apprentice of Lao, and the Kung fu Warrior..." Po then stepped forward and said "What could happen right?" Po then lit his hands with the flames, now infused with the strength of his friends, "GET READY TO FEEL THE THUNDAHHHH!" He got into his new infamous stance, the style born from his clumsy nature yet combined from the different techniques of the Five put together, the Panda Style.

"_Well aren't you determined now..." _A familiar voice echoed in his head

Po scoffed a bit and said_ "Where have you been?"_

The spirit smiled a bit and answered_ "Seeing if you can truly achieve a miracle"_

Po smiled again, he felt strange, he's been doing that a lot lately, it was just his way of passing harsh situations.


	24. Chapter 24: The Final Battle Part 3

Budding Emotions

Chapter 24: The Final Battle Part 3

Jing made the first move as he fired a blast of dark chi at Shifu that was dodged while Shifu simply dashed by it. Po dashed alongside Shifu as Jing then swung his spear towards them, launching a wide slash of dark chi towards them as Shifu did a backwards flip jump; Po used his own flames to swipe away the dark energy. Mantis and Viper rode on Crane's shoulders while Tigress dashed towards Jing on her four paws. When Po finally got close he launched a quick fiery punch which was blocked with a single hand from Jing and countered with a talon kick but was evaded when Po bended back. Shifu dashed underneath Po's legs and pounced up at Jing to perform a spinning kick that hit him directly in the face, which also released Po's fist. Meanwhile, Crane had finally flew high enough to launch his attack; he then flew down and tried to charge from above with a chop but was blocked by Jing's spear; Viper and Mantis then leaped off onto Jing, as Viper whipped Jing's face with her tail as he tried to smash her with his hand but she twisted over it and entangled his neck as well, utilizing her famous hold to make him hit himself.

"Not so tough now are ya!?" Viper yelled, repeating her famous move, "Are ya!?"

Jing stumbled around while Mantis jumped onto his right hand to attempt to disarm his weapon, but Jing was ready and stopped his hand from being pulled by Viper as the dark veins induced by the dark chi could be seen on his wrist; he then dropped his spear and used his other hand to grab Viper and untangled her hold on him, then Viper was thrown at full strength at Lianne, knocking them both down.

"Master Viper, are you alright?" Lianne now looked as if she had not slept in days, perhaps over the heat of the battle or the fact that her comrades are being beaten.

Viper trembled as she slithered back up, "Yes..." Viper shook away the pain in her tail, "a little scratch but, we've been through far worse."

Mantis saw this chance and jumped off from Jing's wrist and lifted the fallen spear with all his strength; he then threw it far across the field and through the wall. Mantis then felt a presence as Jing's foot was coming down on Mantis.

"Whoa!" Mantis leaped off onto a wall before it was too late and readied himself for another pounce, "let's see if you like this!" Mantis then launched himself at Jing with great speed; Jing prepared to attack with his spear but was interrupted when Tigress jumped towards him and did a full circle kick that knocked him senseless, while Mantis performed a straight kick to Jing's torso, leaving him defenseless while Tigress went on the full offensive and letting loose with the punches with Mantis.

Po stood watching this great feat, "Wow, it's like watching a cat beat on a poor bird, it's almost kind of funny," Po smiled as he watched on, he'd almost forgotten how vicious Tigress can be, then again it was hard to completely forget when he was on the receiving end of those punches almost every day of training at the Jade Palace, "then again you can't exactly be happy when you've been kidnapped, not to mention when-"

"PO!"

Po broke from his train of thought and frantically looked around, "Huh? Wha-"

"FOCUS!" Shifu said as he charged up to assist in the struggle. Tigress flipped back to dodge Jing's slash; Shifu then leapt onto to Tigress's shoulder and launched himself and landed on Jing's spear; Jing tried to shake him off but Shifu held on and dashed on the spear, using it as terrain.

Jing growled in anger as he amplified the dark chi on the spear, while burned as Shifu touched it, "Argh!" Shifu said before falling to the ground, his clothes filled now stained with the charred marks from the dark chi

"Master!" Po ran up recklessly to save him, "take this!" Po tried to land a punch, before noticing Jing's trap. "ENOUGH!" Jing roared as everybody was pushed back by a powerful gust of dark chi, as Po went right through the wall, Shifu was still hurt as he was pushed back to a pillar which knocked him unconscious, and the others were thrown against the walls.

"You see!? You are weak! None of you can defeat me! Not the Furious Five! Not Shifu and not even the Dragon Warrior! It is with this power that I will shape the new world!" Jing laughed wildly once again.

Po groaned as he rose from the rubble, rubbing his head at the same time, "O-oh yeah? Well, you haven't seen anything yet!" Jing chuckled to himself, "I haven't? Well then..." Jing then summoned two walls of dark chi that blocked everyone off from Po and Jing, "Let's see it then, a duel between the two of us, and no holding back" Jing had an evil stare directed at Po, and they did nothing short but instil fear into their victims.

Jing then broke his smile and swung his spear down at Po; Po finally calmed himself and stopped the spear with his hands, "Dude! A minute to prepare would've killed you?" Po shoved the spear aside and ran went through a sliding door. Po entered into another room with sliding doors around him, "Wow how many rooms does this place have?" Jing's spear then pierced the door, "GAH!" Po quickly dodged to the side as Jing kicked the door down. "I'm glad you took notice, this palace was given to me as a peace offering from the Valley's emperor, or rather, a parting gift...". Jing took Po by surprise again "Yah!" Jing swung the spear horizontally as Po bend back to dodge it, Jing then did a sweep kick to knock Po off to the ground, "YAHHHH!" Jing's spear was trusted down to the big panda but luckily Po rolled to the left and ran to another room.

"You cannot escape you know! Or did you forget that this was a duel?" Jing slowly approached the next door.

Po stood there, panting for his life, "Man, this guy is nuts! Can't believe I'm sayin' it, but even more nuts than Tai Lung!" The door was kicked down again as Po lit the flames and pounded his fist to the floor, creating the pillars of flames directed at Jing. Jing blocked it by slashing the flames with his dark chi imbued spear, making the great flames now dissipate into a wimpy fire on the ground.

Before Jing could even look up Po's fist flew at his face and knocked him back a bit, Po then let loose another punch but his fist was grabbed by Jing as he then squeezed it hard, making Po groan in pain as he fell to his knees, "You skills are formidable indeed Dragon Warrior, but..." Po felt every bit of pain as Jing squeezed even harder, this hold could've crushed more than just an apple, "I'll never let you get close enough to more than one hit!"

Po eyes turned into a glare as he looked up, "Oh yeah?" With his other hand Po struck Jing upwards in the chin with his palm, clearly borrowing from Tigress's technique; Jing had to step back a few steps, as Po then charged up and did a full force punch to Jing's ribs and then kicking him through the door to the other room, "If I'm counting right, that was two more hits so far!" Po smirked cockily; he had longed to do this ever since he was a Furious Five fan. Po's senses then picked up a sharp sound in the wind, as taught by Shifu to increase his precision in hearing, as Po then dodged the side and tried to grab the spear, but it was still pulling away from him, as he had no choice but to let go as it took its former place in Jing's hands, standing tall as if Po's attack did nothing. "Let's get serious, shall we?" Jing dusted off the wooden pieces on his shoulder with his wings.

------

Tigress threw her fists at the wall, desperately trying to get through the wall, only to have them withdrawn with slight burnt marks; Mantis tried pouncing at the dark chi wall with his straight kick, but was only thrown back with his little legs on fire; Mantis then tried to blow out the flames, while Crane just stood there, arms crossed, thinking and waiting calmly, as he always did under these circumstances. Shifu opened his eyes slowly, only to find himself lying on Lianne's lap and meeting her eyes; he then leapt back on his legs; Shifu has trained his body vigorously, and by doing that you learn to heal your wounds faster.

"What has happened?" Shifu stared at the wall of dark chi

Lianne got up on her feet and grabbed her sword, "Jing has blocked our path, and Po is now fighting him alone."

"How is he faring?" Shifu asked immediately

"We don't know" Lianne's tone turned dark

Shifu then pondered this to himself, and then sat down with his legs crossed, and went into meditation.

Tigress rushed up near the wall, "Master! We must do something, if we don't help Po will-"

"I believe in him," Shifu was keeping his promise to his long gone master, while Tigress stopped and listened to her master's words, "shouldn't you believe in him too? After all, he DID defeat Tai Lung,"

Tigress looked down, wondering to herself, she never knew how to handle situations like this other than fight, as Shifu continued speaking, still in his meditative position, "he even had the guts to come all the way here, despite how he is, and believe me, pandas like him don't appear every dynasty you know". Tigress smiled lightly at her master's rare joke, as she nodded and stood against the wall, now confident that Po will succeed; Mantis let out a long sigh of relief as the fire was finally out, while Crane blocked his nose with his wing to block out the charcoal smell of the smoke trail emanating from Mantis's legs.

Tigress sighed to herself and thought, "Don't die on me, dumb panda..."

------

Po was now breathing harder than ever, turning all around him; Jing's spear then suddenly sprouted from one of the rooms, as Po ducked down on his back to dodged it, but the spear then turned around and headed straight under for Po, as he then jumped back up while the spear crashed under the floor and traveled elsewhere; Jing was obviously using the skill he had taught Sayasha, a skill for those with long range weapons in tight spaces to confuse and defeat their enemies without worry.

"I'm really quite impressed of how-"

Po rolled his eyes at this, "Yeah Yeah, You're impressed; I get it, what's with all the flattery? Aren't bad guys supposed to laugh maniacally, gloat over their advantage, and then try to kill..." Realization struck him. "on second thought, never mind, you got those pinned already." Jing laughed at this, but not maniacally but out of humour, "Oh you are quite the comedian, Dragon Warrior, I commend you for that; none of my enemies have been able to keep an upbeat attitude as well as you and to show my gratitude, I'll give you..." Jing's spear went from above and zipped right above Po's shoulder, leaving a bleeding wound; Po stepped back and managed to dodged the spear's second turn, as it returned to its master, hiding somewhere in the rooms, "a slow death..." Jing's voice now hissed with wickedness. Po charged through another room, desperate to find cover.

"Try all you like, but you'll never escape it, do you know what this move is called, Dragon Warrior?" Jing's tone was still dark and devilish, even when he was trying to mask it under a light tone.

Po huffed and puffed, trying to catch his breath, and trying to dodge Jing's attacks at the same time wasn't making it any easier, "Do I?"

Jing slightly chuckled to himself once again, "It is called the 'Unbreakable Maze' and do you know why? Because even revered warriors like you have fallen to this move, oh they try and try, but they never can solve my puzzle."

"Yeah? Well my friend Crane proved otherwise!"

"While I'll admit Master Crane, is quite clever indeed, but Sayasha was merely an apprentice, and I don't need to tell you this but, my spear is **not **an illusion" Po frowned at this simple truth, "and besides, you really don't share his magnificent mind anyways."

Po balled his fists and gritted his teeth before standing up, "I might not be as smart as Crane, or as strong as any of the other Five," Po then assumed his stance, "But that's the point! I do things my own way!"

"Interesting...show me then, mighty one, will you be able to escape from my cage?"

To be continued...

I HAVE RETURNED! Yes I know it was a long delay, but hey, it's high school, I can't help but get weighed down by homework, but I've also been working on improving my story, and I hope you guys approve, those that haven't already abandoned me that is, so here it is, another action packed chapter! Read and Review!


	25. I'M BAAAAAACK

Guess Who's Back!

Guess what fans! I'm finally back, yes yes, all of you are most likely angry and disappointed at me for taking this long to return, but with all the high school stuff and stress I've been going through, I had to take time off from this, to catch up on my work and rest, but luckily, through all that, I was still thinking of how to advance the story. SO YES! There will be updates soon, and I promise to you, this time around I will not take so long between updates. No I will not give up on this story, and trust me, you'll love it even more now that I'm back, all I ask is that you guys help spread the word that im back, maybe go to the reviews section and message my other reviewers that I've come back? I really don't wanna lose any fans.

P.S.: Sorry again for taking so long T_T


	26. Chapter 25: The Final Battle Part 4

Budding Emotions

Chapter 25: The Final Battle Part 4

The Five and Shifu waited impatiently, most of them unable to keep still, knowing there was a battle going on, and that their friend may lose. Lianne sat on her knees, looking at the sheer gleam of her sword; it allowed her to reminisce in her thoughts, of the day before the journey to Jing's fortress.

"_Lianne," Her master Lao was firm on this, "whatever the cost, I want you to assist the Dragon Warrior in his fight." Lao then reached under his bed and pulled out a long object wrapped in cloth; he unfurled it and it revealed itself to be a katana sword, with the crest of a wolf's head on the sheath, with its mane traveling down the case._

_Lianne was surprised, "Is that-"_

"_Yes…the sacred sword of my dojo, the Blade of Honor," Lao held it to Lianne, "and now, it is yours."_

_Lianne was hesitant and her hands shaking, she had only trained with wooden dummies, the thought of fighting real opponents terrified her, she had trained only to use the skills for self defense, not to kill. _

_She lightly pushed the blade back, "Master, I can't…"_

_Lao's firm expression then turned into a kind and understanding one, "Lianne, you have been through much after losing your family to Jing."_

_Lianne grimaced at the memory of that day, the day when her life fell to pieces, and through the dark flame that engulfed her parents, she could see the devious pair of eyes and smile that belonged to someone whole took sick pleasure in killing, the eyes and smile that belonged to Jing._

"_I myself…" Lao rubbed his old arms, "can no longer fight…"_

"_Master…" Lianne looked up_

"_But that is why you, my student, must carry forth for me, and represent the pride of our people with the Dragon Warrior!"_

_Lianne's hands tightened the immense weight of responsibility and risk of going into battle has never scared her more._

"_I know, it is selfish for me to want you to redeem my mistake with Jing and my old apprentices," Lao held up the blade again, "but it is your choice and yours alone on what you do with this blade, Lianne, so…will you fight alongside the Dragon Warrior with honor?"_

_Lianne looked down again at her feet, they were not shaking anymore, and she knew what she had to do. Lianne took the blade from her master and held it proudly, as Lao then hugged her tightly, tears almost pushing through his eye, never more proud of his student…his last family._

Lianne woke from her memories with a small tear in her eye, but she wiped it away before anyone could notice.

Tigress stood against the wall with her arms crossed, her feet tapping rapidly and impatiently, angered by how helpless and un-useful she felt, she never thought she would have to feel this way again, until she finally snapped, "That's it!" Tigress then punched the wall she stood against, hoping to have found a means of escape that Jing missed. Her punch went through but was immediately stopped against something as Tigress drew back her punch through the hole, the fur on her fist was a bit charred.

"Don't tell me-"Viper groaned

Tigress fixed her fur and looked through the hole; it was another wall of dark chi on the other side.

"Man…he's good" Mantis said

Everyone's glares suddenly turned to Mantis, "What'd I do?" he replied.

"We have to find a way out!" Tigress was growing aggressive.

"Calm down, Tigress, all we can do is trust Po" Shifu closed his eyes and resumed meditation.

Tigress clenched her fists and went back to standing by the wall, this time Lianne walked up to Tigress and stood by her, "So…um…you are Master Tigress?"

Tigress looked over at Lianne, and noticed that she hadn't asked who this girl was yet, "Yes, and…you are?"

"Lianne, villager of the Highlands," Lianne then saw Tigress's gaze turn towards her sword, "and um…apprentice of Master Lao." Lianne grew shy again, it wasn't easy talking to a person like Tigress, and Lianne only wondered how Po could do it.

Things then grew more and more awkward between them, with the tension growing tangible by the minute; Lianne fell under and tried to break the mood, "So! I've heard a lot about you from Po."

Tigress didn't want to just stand around chat while Po was fighting for his life, but since she HAS to wait…"Really? Like what?"

"Well, he would often describe you as 'being AWESOME in kicking butt' and 'really mean' " Lianne then realized that it was probably a mistake telling her that.

Tigress was not angry though, but rather amused, "Oh did he? Well…that's just like him,"

"_Was it selfish for me to let myself get captured? Because of it, Po, Shifu, and the rest of the Five were hurt badly…"_

"_Even if this we get home alright…will I be able to tell him? After everything I've done? ...Ha…I really am a burden"_

Tigress's train of thought crashed when a huge rumble shook the building, almost like an earthquake, it almost made everyone loses their balance.

"What was that!?" Crane was now alert and in defensive stance.

"An earthquake?" Viper replied

Then, suddenly, the walls of dark chi disappeared before their eyes.

Shifu opened his eyes and stood up, without a sense of surprise or doubt, like he knew this would happen, "I think I know what happened, let's go!"

Everyone then dashed outside, and saw a galore of broken doors and holes in the ceiling and floors. "Man, even at fighting Po isn't clean" Mantis jumped on Lianne's shoulder. Tigress glanced over at one of the broken sliding doors and saw droplets of blood; she then dashed over to the door and saw that there were other droplets bloods around. Tigress was only worried on one thing now, were those Jing's blood…or Po's? Everyone else then noticed what Tigress saw.

Viper slithered over to Tigress and poked her hand with her tail, "I'm sure it's Jing's"

Tigress hoped Viper was right, but her heart was still heavy, all of this was caused by her, all this suffering and pain Po has to endure, and all…because of her. Crane then walked up to the broken door, seemingly disgusted by the blood, something in his janitor self just made him clean obsessed, "If we follow the holes and blood, maybe we can find where Po and Jing is."

Tigress then ran off, following Crane's plan.

"Hey wait up!" Mantis said, jumping after Tigress, as the others followed.

Tigress dashed and zipped through the doors, trying to avert her eyes from the blood as much as possible, she had to keep focused, then, she suddenly reached the end of the trail, there were no more broken doors or holes; the others then arrived and was surprised as well, until Lianne happened to glance up and saw something interesting.

"Um…everyone?" Their gaze then averted to Lianne pointing up at the ceiling

The Five and Shifu then looked up, and saw a giant hole on the ceiling, bigger than the other ones they've seen so far. Tigress then jumped up and lifted herself up through the hole and spotted open doors and followed them. Everyone else climbed through and saw Tigress just standing there at the trail of open doors.

Everyone caught up with her and stopped at a huge hole on the ground; Mantis looked down and saw there were another bunch of holes on the bottom floors that lined up with the one they're on.

"Just what the heck happened here?" Mantis looked over at Crane.

Crane then caught his gaze, "Well don't look at me, I don't have the answers for everthing."

Shifu walked slowly and stopped in front of the hole, "Po used 'it' "

"'Oh lord…"Tigress rolled her eyes

"Well that would explain the holes. "Mantis replied

"I can't believe that move actually works." Crane said

Viper laughed a bit, "I feel a bit sorry for Jing now."

Lianne frantically looked around, clueless on what they're talking about, "Uhh, what's 'it'?"

"A very dangerous and powerful move Po had developed for his Panda Style, a style created by him and can only be used by him" Shifu's eyes lowered

Lianne was amazed by this; she never knew Po had created that deadly of a move, let alone his own style, "What is it called?"

Tigress smiled at how stupid she would sound for saying it, but she did it anyways, "Panda Quake"

-----

(Earlier)~~

Po finally shook off the unbearable pain of his shoulder cut, but it still stung a bit; but Jing's attacks were still relentless, as Po battle rolled through the next door as Jing's spear flew right over him.

"Sooner or later you will tire, and my spear will have your head!" Jing yelled from wherever he may be.

_Finally, Po heard the spirit speak again, "Kid, put out your Dragon's Flame for a while, you're gonna drain yourself at this rate" _

Po took his advice and lowered his Flames; he was fighting a pointless battle, how do you win against an opponent that you can't see but yet he can still attack you?

"_Focus on finding out where he is, because so far kid you're just shooting at straws."_

Every room Po has searched was empty, and there was no sight of Jing, and yet his spear follows him like a shadow.

Po was running out of options, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate harder "Come on, think, think!" Then, Po could sense something, it was faint, but it was definitely something. Po then closed his eyes and concentrated again, and t his time his reaction was confirmed, in the darkness he sensed something evil fouling the air.

"_What is it, kid?"_

Po shook his own head in confusion of the situation "I-I don't know, it's like I have this tugging feeling, but I think I can feel Jing's presence."

"_You can sense his chi? That must mean you really are—"_

"Look we can talk later, but let's focus on the crazy evil dude trying to kill us, WOAH!" Po then ducked as Jing's spear flew threw like an annoying mosquito again.

"Alright, let's try this again," Po concentrated, and this time, he was beginning to see an outline in the darkness, until it formed into a figure, but there was a large purple flame inside the outline, "that must be his chi!"

Po raised his arms in excitement, "Ha ha, this is freakin' awesome! Hey Spirit! How come you didn't tell me I could do this?"

"_Kid, I can honestly tell you that the Dragon's Flames are not what caused this."_

"Then what—"

"_Shouldn't you be focusing on the current predicament?"_

"Oh! Right! Let's do this." Po jumped back and dodged another spear.

Po closed his eyes and the outline was there again, except he could pinpoint its location, the figure was four rooms ahead of him. Po then dashed through the rooms, dodging spears that came for his life at the same time, but when he got to the fourth room, the outline had disappeared; Po looked around until and still saw nothing.

Po shook his head in frustration "Aw come on, how is he—"that is until Po looked up at the ceiling, "why hello there."

Jing sat there, deviously plotting out and guiding his spear towards Po, his prey trapped in his "cage".

Jing laughed diabolically, "Dragon Warrior, are you not tired? Do you not wish for death's sweet release? I can fr—"Two paws then crashed through the floor and grabbed both of Jing's legs.

"YOU TALK TOO MUCH!" Po then pulled Jing down from his hiding spot and smashed his body on the floor.

"But…HOW!? Y-You're just a fat panda!" Jing shaking said as he opened his eyes.

Po chuckled for a bit, "You know you remind me of someone, so I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told him," Po then grabbed his legs again and started spinning Jing in a circle.

"I'm not JUST a panda!" Po said as the speed of his spin increased, "I'm THE panda!" Po then let go of Jing's body as the accumulation of power from that spin made him shoot through the rooms like a bullet.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Po could hear the scream fading as he heard a crash finally, "Well, time to be a hero."

Po managed to find his way to Jing's sprawled body against a wall, it wasn't hard, he just needed to follow the bird shaped holes.

Jing used the wall as leverage as he got up to his feet, "You-You INSOLENT BUFOON!"

Po shrugged it off, "I've been called worse," Then he went into battle stance, "but man, I can honestly tell you that this is gonna hurt more than those insults."

Jing then called his spear to his hands and charged at Po recklessly in anger, "RAHHHHHHH!"

Po dodged his first thrust and parried his second one with his arm, then Jing went for an upper cut slash as Po stopped the blade with his hands.

Po smiled, "MAN I've always wanted to do this."

Po then pushed the spear down, causing the bottom staff of it to hit Jing's chin, disorienting him; then Po moved his arms in smooth and wavy motion, showing grace and skill as he disarmed Jing of his weapon. This was the Viper Style of disarming, one of the moves that contributed to the Panda Style. Po then wacked Jing's face with the staff section of his own spear, as he fell to the ground.

"_He's slipping kid, I could tell when he just attacked you without even a thought, now's your chance."_

Po then nodded as he leaped up the ceiling and used his claws to hang himself up.

Jing slowly looked up from his position, "W-What are you doing!?"

"It's time to reveal the ultimate technique of Panda Style, baby!" Po then let go of his lock on the ceiling and landed on Jing, which made them crash through to the bottom room, then the next, and the next, and so on, "PANDA QUAKEEEEEEEEEE" Po exclaimed as they crashed through the floors.

---

Lianne looked puzzled, "Panda Quake?"

Crane shuddered at the mention of it, "He made that move up after sparring with all of us, and unfortunately, I had the pleasure of being his first victim to test the move out on."

Viper chuckled to herself, "You couldn't move for days."

"Hey!" Crane said

Everyone laughed at Crane's situation, as Tigress knew this was Po's power, the innate ability to make people laugh and be more open, one of the reasons why she can't let him die because of what she did.

"Come on, let's go get our idiot." Tigress smiled as she jumped down the long line of holes as did everyone else.

"W-Wait! I'm afraid of heights, I-I can't!" Lianne said

"No time to waste." Shifu said as he lifted her off her feet and carried her.

"Wait, what are you—"Lianne said in distress

"Let's go" Shifu said as he jumped down the hole with Lianne

---

As Po got up from the piles of rubble and straw floors pieces and wiped himself off, he noticed that they were back on the first floor of the tower, he could hear a girlish scream coming from above the holes he and Jing had created.

Po looked up at the hole, "What the-"Then he could see several figures come at him at full speed before he could get out of the way.

"WOAH!" Po said as someone crashed into him, he then opening his eyes and saw Tigress sprawled over him.

"T-Tigress?" She then woke up and saw Po under her.

"Po?" Tigress said as her senses were returning.

Po then blushed and tried to find something to say, "I-I guess we both hit our heads pretty hard."

Tigress smiled, "It appears so."

Then they could hear someone clearing his throat as they turned to the left and saw that it was Shifu standing in front of everyone else.

Then Po and Tigress immediately got off each other and stood at a distance.

Viper sighed, "Why can't they just admit it."

"What?" Crane said

Viper then shook her head, "Nothing, just mumbling."

The moment stopped as Jing himself rose from the rubble, his armor was all scratched up and broken as his own body was not looking in good shape.

Shifu slowly walked towards him, "It's over, Jing, honor your word as a warrior and accept defeat in this duel."

"N…Ne…ver" Jing then closed his eyes out of exhaustion, when he could hear a voice.

"_Do you desire power?"_

"_W-Who are you?"_

"_Do you desire to have power that rivals the gods?"_

"_YES!"_

"_The power to smite all who stand against you?"_

"_Yes! I want that power"_

"_Then give up your soul to me, and you shall have all the power you desire."_

"_YES! I'll do anything! Just give me the power!"_

_The voice seemed to chuckle evilly, "As you wish…"_

Po then felt a powerful shock to his senses as he could tell something was afoot, "MASTER SHIFU, LOOK O—"

Jing's body then radiated with darkness as the sheer strength of his newfound power blew everyone back through the main gate and to outside the castle.

Everybody then got to their feet, as they could see Jing as he floated through the main gate, his eyes were now blank, his armor was ripped off, and everyone could sense his power had grown exponentially.

He lifted his hand as his spear shot through the wall and land on his hand. The spear seemed malicious now with even more dark chi coursing through it.

"Now…you face a TRUE god." Jing then slashed his spear over the doors of the main gates once and the metal doors were slashed to mere rubble, as if they were nothing.

Everyone got into their battle stances, they knew better not to get distracted, except for Po, who still had his mouth open.

"PO!" Shifu yelled

"GAHH! What?" Po said out of surprise

"Focus." Shifu looked serious

Po then looked over at Jing, it was clear that they could very lose this battle if they make a mistake. Po nodded, "Right." And got into battle position.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

***Finally updated! WOOT! Anyways, how'd you like the new chapter, review plz! Also sorry for taking so long, high school homework and such, see ya next chapter!**


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